P  A 
6651 
C377 
1910 

MAIN 


PC-NRLF 


m  ms 


GIFT  OF 


QUINTILIAN'S     DIDACTIC 
METAPHORS 


A  Thesis 


for  the 


Doctorate  in   Philosophy 


by 


JANE  GRAY  CARTER 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

THE  KNICKERBOCKER  PRESS 

NEW  YORK 


QUINTILIAN'S     DIDACTIC 
METAPHORS 


A   Thesis 


for  the 


Doctorate  in   Philosophy 


JANE  GRAY  CARTER 


G.   P.   PUTNAM'S  SONS 

KNICKERBOCKER  PRESS 
NEW  YORK 


A  Thesis  for  the  Doctorate 

submitted  in  partial  fulfillment  of  the 

requirements  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 

in  the  Graduate  School 
\_  New  York  University 
New  York 

I   |  '910 


PKUSI 
C377 


TO 

ERNEST   GOTTLIEB    SIHLER,    PH.D., 
PROFESSOR   OF  THE   LATIN  LANGUAGE   AND  LITERATURE 

AT    NEW    YORK    UNIVERSITY, 
THIS   THESIS    IS   GRATEFULLY   DEDICATED. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  .......         i 

1.  Tendency  of  the  Age. 

(a)  Silver  Latinity  from  Nero  to  Domitian. 

(b)  Didactic  writing  suited  to  the  period. 

2.  Quintilian  in  relation  to  his  times. 

(a)  His  effort  to  rehabilitate  the  Ciceronian 

manner    and    to    minimize    the    in- 
fluence of  Seneca. 

(b)  Quintilian  an  exemplar  of  the  infusion 

of  new  blood    into  Rome  from  the 
Provinces. 

QUINTILIAN'S    USE    OF    METAPHORS,    SIMILES,    AND 

COMPARISONS 17 

I.     Didactic  Metaphors. 

A     One  thing  with  life  for  another  with  life. 

Architecture,  Chariot-racing,  Drama,  Dress, 
Food,  Military  Tactics,  Music,  Naviga- 
tion, Physical  World,  Travel. 
B     One  thing  without  life  for  another  without  life. 
Agriculture,     Architecture,     Dress,     Food, 
Fuller's  Art,  Medicine,  Military  Tactics, 
Music,  Nature,  Palaestra,  Physical  World, 
Physiology,    Rivers,    Roads,    Sculpture, 
Treasury,  Weapons,  Wine-making. 
C     One  thing  without  life  for  another  with  life. 
Agriculture,  Man,  Nature,  Physical  World, 
Rivers,  Sculpture. 


vi  CONTENTS 

D     A  thing  with  life  for  a  thing  without  life. 

Animals,  Drama,  Food,  Military  Tactics, 
Nature,  Navigation,  Trade,  Travel. 

2.  Didactic  Similes. 

A     Ornandi  causa  (per  contrarium). 

Food,  Philosophy,  Physical  World. 
B     Probandi  causa  (per  negationem). 

Agriculture,   Architecture,   Biology,   Body, 
Dress,   Nature,  Navigation,  Phenomena, 
Physical  World,  Statuary,  Weapons. 
C    Apertius  dicendi  (per  brevitatem). 

Agriculture,    Body,    Music,    Wine-making, 

Wounds. 
D     Ante    oculos    ponendi    negotii    causa    (per 

collationeni) . 

Anatomy,  Architecture,  Athletics,  Drama, 
Dress,  Engraving,  Foods,  Fuller's  Art, 
Home,  Husbandry,  Military  Tactics, 
Nature,  Navigation,  Physical  World, 
Physiology,  Psychology,  Rivers,  Roads, 
Surgery,  Viticulture,  Wounds,  Zoology. 

3.  Didactic  Comparisons,  or  Parallels. 

A     PrcEcedit  similitude,  res  sequitur. 

(a)  Drawn  from  the  proceedings  of  man. 
Art,  Athletics,  Medicine,  Military 

Tactics,  Palaestra. 

(b)  Drawn  from  animals  without  speech. 
Bees. 

(c)  Drawn  from  inanimate  objects. 
Fencing,  Husbandry,  Manufactur- 
ing, Medicine,  Music. 

B     Res  prcecedit,  similitudo  sequitur. 

(a)  Parallels     drawn    from     the     pro- 
ceedings of  man. 

Archery,  Athletics,  Child-study, 
Combats,  Fortitude,  Husban- 
dry, Literature,  Magistrates, 


CONTENTS  vii 

Medicine,  Military  Tactics, 
Mythology,  Navigation,  Paint- 
ing, Phenomena,  Philosophy, 
Sculpture. 

(b)  Drawn  from  animals  without  speech. 
Birds,  Wild-animals, 

(c)  Drawn  from  inanimate  objects. 
Architecture,  Art,  Food,  Medicine, 

Music,  Plant-life. 
C    Parallels  that  are  independent  or  separate. 

(a)  Drawn  from  man. 

Agriculture,  Athletics,  Gladiatorial 
Combats. 

(b)  Drawn  from  the  lower  animals. 
Birds,  Horses. 

(c)  Drawn  from  inanimate  objects. 

Arboriculture,  Athletics,  Music. 
D     Parallels  in  which  the  antapodosis  is  manifest. 

(a)  Drawn  from  man. 
Military  Tactics,  Palaestra. 

(b)  Drawn  from  the  lower  animals. 
Quadrupeds. 

(c)  Drawn  from  inanimate  objects. 
Athletics. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
OF  THE  CHIEF  WORKS  CONSULTED 

BERNHARDY — Grundriss  der  Romischen  Literatur,  1872. 

BOISSIER — Tacite,  1905. 

BONNELL — Lexicon  Quintilianeum,  1834. 

CICERO — Ad  Herennium,  De  Inventione,  De  Oratore,  Brutus, 

Orator,  Partitiones  Oratoriae,  Topica — Ed.  Muller,  1902. ' 
DELAMARRE — Tacite  et  la  Litterature  FranQaise,  1907. 
ERNESTI — Lexicon  Technologiae  Grsecorum  Rhetoricae,  1795. 
HALM — Rhetores  Latini  Minores,  1863. 
JEBB — Attic  Orators,  1876. 
JUVENAL — Satires — Friedlander ,  1 895 . 
MARTIAL — Epigrammata — Ed.  Gilbert,  1896. 
MONROE — History  of  Education,  1908. 
MOORE — Tropes  and  Figures  of  Virgil, — American  Journal 

of  Philology,  1891. 
PLINY— Epistles— Ed.  Muller,  1903. 
QUINTILIAN — Ed.  Bonnell,  1903. 

Ed.  Halm,  1868. 

SELLAR — Roman  Poets  of  the  Augustan  Age,  1883 
SENECA — Oratorum    et    Rhetorum    Sententiae,     Divisiones, 

Colores — Ed.  Bursian,  1857. 
SENECA — Epistulag  Morales, — Ed.  Hense,  1898. 
SIHLER — Testimonium  Animae,  1908. 
SPENGEL — Rhetores  Graeci,  1866. 
Suvaywyr]  TS^VWV,  1828. 

SUETONIUS — De  Vita  Caesarum — Ed.  Roth,  1898. 
TACITUS — Dialogus  de  Oratoribus — Ed.  Halm,  1897. 
TEUFFEL — History  of  Roman  Literature,  Vol.   II.   (Warr.), 

1891. 

VOLKMANN — Die  Rhetorik  der  Grieschem  und  Romer,  1901. 

ix 


Quintilian's    Didactic    Metaphors 


INTRODUCTION 
i.     TENDENCY  OF  THE  AGE 

The  object  of  this  study  is  to  learn  to  what  extent  Quin- 
tilian  was  able  to  stem  the  tide  that  was  fast  sweeping  Latin 
literature  to  its  decadence. 

To  do  this,  we  must  reinstate  this  great  master  of  Latin 
prose  in  his  environment,  as  the  epoch  is  an  important  factor 
in  elucidating  the  work  of  an  author,  but  Quintilian  is  an 
author  incidentally,  a  modest  schoolmaster  in  the  main, 
whose  life  work  seemed  to  be  to  array  all  his  forces  against 
the  prevailing  sententious  style  of  his  day;  yet,  he  too,  falls 
at  times  into  the  epigrammatic  fashion  he  so  much  deplored. 

"Just  as  the  severity  and  grandeur  of  the  early  art  of  the 
Greeks  gives  place  in  the  transitional  period  to  a  studied 
grace,  and  when  the  ideas  of  the  new  period  are  Monroe, 
fully  triumphant,  a  perfection  of  the  beauty  of  "History  of 
form  in  turn  degenerates  into  a  mere  study  of  effect 
and  adornment,"  so  the  Latin  literature  passed  from  the 
original,  vigorous  style  of  Cato,  devoid  of  ornamentation, 
through  the  inimitable  fluency  of  the  periodic  structure  of 
Cicero  down  to  the  artificial  and  imitative  efforts  of  the 
Empire. 

Seneca  felt  this  decline  and  tried  to  account  for  it,  from 
a  moral  standpoint,  by  attributing  it  to  the  corruption  of 
public  manners,  "tails  hominibus  fuit  oratio  Seneca, 

qualis  vita  .  .  .  genus  dicendi  imitatur  publicos      £p->  114-2 
mores  ...  argumentum  est  luxuriae  publicse  orationis  las- 


2  QUINTILIAN'S   DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

civia."  But  he  made  no  effort  to  check  this  movement 
and  even  purposely  steered  away  from  the  older  and  more 
virile  writers,  according  to  Suetonius,  "a  cognitione  veterum 
Suet.  Nero  oratorum  Seneca  praeceptor  (avertit)  quo  diutius 
52  in  admiratione  sui  detineret. " 

No  wonder  that  Quintilian,  whose  rhetorical  ideal  was 
Cicero,  felt  a  great  antipathy  to  this  popular  and  versatile 
author  whose  books  were  so  eagerly  sought  by  the  youth 
of  Rome. 

"Vor  alien  trat  er  dem  Seneca  fest  entgegen,  dem  eifer- 
siitigen  Tadler  der  Alten  und  wie  es  diesem  gelang  den  Nero 

vom  Studium  der  Klassiker  abzuziehen  so  hatte 
JD  ernna.rcly . 
"  Grundriss      seine  witzige  Manier,  welche  mit  der  Form  spielt 

Und  dem  Genius   des    Moments.    .   .    .   Seit   den 
Tagen  des  Seneca  der  Stil  von  alien  Einfacheit 
abgewichen  und  zerruttet  war. " 

Tacitus  likewise  deplores  the  tendency  of  the  age,  and 
connects  it  with  its  political  status,  dating  from  the  time  of 
Augustus,  the  inevitable  change  from  the  independence  and 
initiative  of  speech  under  the  Republic  to  the  wordy  display 
of  the  imperial  regime. 

Tacitus  "Dia-  "e^  maxime  principis  disciplina  ipsam  quoque 
logusdeOra-  eloquentiam  sicut  omnia  pacaverat." 

1  us>  3  He  also  attributes  it  to  the  educational   me- 

thods in  vogue,  and  regrets  the  change  from  the  old  days 
when  boys  were  taught  at  home  and  were  under  the  care 
of  members  of  their  own  kin,  but  now  Greek  slaves  are  em- 
ployed, too  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  preliminary 
training  in  .fundamentals,  and  there  is  a  premature  hurry 
to  the  rhetors. 

1 '  Ein  schlimmer  Keim  lag  in  der  Eile  der  Erziehung  welche 
mit  grosser  Fluchtigkeit  und  ohne  strenge  Zucht  betrieben 
Bernhardy,  wurde.  Die  Jugend  begann  vorzeitig  in  die  Welt 
p.  287  zu  blicken  und  sturmte,  kaum  von  den  Gramma- 

tikern  vorbereitet  in  der  Horsale  der  Rhetorik,  wo  die  phan- 
tastischen  Uebungen  der  Deklamatoren  bluhten. " 

Pliny,  too,  censures  this  tendency  as  exemplified  in  the 
self-conceit  of  the  youthful  pleaders  in  the  centum  viral  courts. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  3 

"  Magna  ex  parte  adulescentuli  obscuri  ad  declamandum  hue 

transierunt,  tarn  inreverenter  et  temere,  ut  mihi 

Atilius    noster    expresse    dixisse  videatur   sic   in 

foro  pueros  a  centum  viralibus  causis  auspicari,  ut  ab  Homero 

in  Scholis." 

a.    SILVER  LATINITY  FROM  NERO  TO  DOMITIAN 

Literature  was  cramped  by  the  growth  of  despotism  under 
Tiberius,  Nero,  and  Domitian.  The  interlude  of  the  era  of 
Vespasian  and  Titus  revived  independent  thought  somewhat 
but  was  too  soon  followed  by  the  blighting  influence  of 
Domitian  to  have  a  marked  effect. 

The  time, 

"cum  iam  semi-animum  laceraret  Flavius  orbem 

Juvenal, 
ultimus,  et  calvo  serviret  Roma  Neroni,"  4.  37 

was  one  when  literature  had  either  to  be  silent  or  servile. 

Hypocrisy  and  affectation,  a  cloud  of  monotonous  mechani- 
cal rhetoric  prevailed. 

Men  seemed  to  reverse  Cato's  dictum,  uRem  tene,  verba 
sequentur."  Simplicity  and  naturalness  were  considered 
trivial  and  commonplace.  There  was  a  desire  for  pointed 
and  polished  antitheses  (e.  g.,  Seneca  and  Lucan),  for  glittering 
epigrams  (Martial  and  Juvenal),  ostentatious  erudition 
(Pliny  the  Elder  and  Celsus),  brilliant  sententiag  (Tacitus  and 
Pliny). 

All  originality  had  departed,  and  with  the  decline  of  the 
thought  more  and  more  importance  was  attached  to  form. 
The  key-note  is  sounded  in  a  remark  of  Tacitus,  Tac>  £>/a^ 
"Cum  de  antiquis  loquaris,  utere  antiqua  liber-  27 

tate,  a  qua  vel  magis  degeneravimus  quam  ab  eloquentia." 

Poetry  though  widely  cultivated  was  becoming  more  and 
more  an  ornamental  accomplishment. 

Lucan's  poetic  genius  excited  the  jealousy  of  Nero  and  was 
the  indirect  cause  of  his  death. 

'  '  Sub  Nerone,  cum  omme  studiorum  genus  paulo 


liberius  et  rectius  periculosum  servitus  fecisset." 


4  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Teuffel,  "Poetry  became    rhetorical    and    prose    poeti- 

vol.  ii.,  p.  4      cal  - 

Quint,  10.  Quintilian  says  of  the  poet  Lucan,  "  Magis 

*•  9°  oratoribus  quam  poetis  imitandus.  " 

The  Greek  influence  which  during  the  Golden  Age  had  had 
such  a  vivifying  effect  upon  Latin  literature  now  seemed  to 
have  exhausted  itself,  and  the  Romans  of  the  Silver  Age 
selected  their  models  from  their  own  countrymen  and  in  no 
instance  came  up  to  the  standard  of  their  model. 

Vergil  had  many  followers,  e.g.,  Statius  and  Silius,  Italicus 
and  Columella. 

Horace  was  lovingly  imitated  by  Persius,  Livy  by  Curtius, 
and  Quintilian,  despite  his  overwhelming  mass  of  Greek 
erudition,  acknowledged  gratefully  and  affectionately  the 
inspiration  of  his  ideal  Cicero. 

Martial  constantly  refers  to  Roman  writers  but  seldom  to 
those  of  Greece. 

As  for  oratory  this  inferior  style  began  with  Cassius 
Severus  whose  manner  changed  deliberately,  through  his 
conforming  to  changing  taste,  to  escape  the  tedium  on  the 
part  of  the  hearers  especially  before  certain  judices  who  were 
swayed  by  force  and  power,  not  by  legal  principles  or  statutes, 
in  arriving  at  their  verdicts. 

"praecurrit  hoc  tempore  iudex  dicentem,  et  nisi  aut  cursu 
argumentorum  aut  colore  sententiarum  aut  nitore  et  cultu 
T  .  descriptionum  invitatus  et  corruptus  est,  aver- 

satur  (dicentem)  vulgus  quoque  adsistentium 
.  .  .  et  vagus  auditor  adsuevit,  iam  exigere  laetitiam  et 
pulchritudinem  orationis  .  .  .  iam  vero  iuvenes,  qui  pro- 
fectus  sui  causa,  oratores  sectantur  non  solum  audire,  sed 
etiam  referre,  domum  aliquid  inlustre  et  dignum  memoria 
volunt." 

They  even  send  these  bon-mots  out  into  the  colonies  and 
provinces.  Poetical  elements  are  demanded. 

Vocabulary  is  taken  from  Horace,  Vergil,  and  Lucan.  So 
this  change  was  hardly  a  natural  spontaneous  development 
but  a  yielding  to  extraneous  pressure,  to  the  demands  of  the 
times. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  5 

"  On  ne  peut  pas  pretendre  que  1'empire  ait  ete  tout-a-fait  un 
regime  de  silence.  .  .  .  Au  senat  ou  se  decident  Boissier, 
de  grandes  affaires,  la  parole  n'est  pas  libre,  on  Tacite 

ne  dit  jamais  toute  sa  pensee  et  Ton  est  souvent  force  de  dire 
le  contraire  de  ce  qu'on  pense.  " 

The  Romans  ever  a  practical,  utilitarian  people  gave  what 
the  world  wanted. 

The  elder  Seneca  said:  "  Schemata  non  decoris  causa 
invent  a,  sed  subsidii,  ut  quod  aures  oifensurum  Seneca 

esset,  si   palam  diceretur,  id   oblique    et   furtim          Controv. 
t    ,  ,  prooem. 

surreperet. 

A  similar  opinion  which  seems,  in  a  certain  measure,  to 
account  for  the  artificial  adornments  of  the  age  is  given  by 
Demetrius  Phalereus  (icspi  sa/Y^aTta^svwv)  xoXXa  Be  Rhetores 

Tcapa  TOI<;  Tupavvot?,  .  .  .  TaiJTa  5'eTpYjxa  IpupYJvac     ^r®f?  Spen- 
TO  Y6o    TO  -    ge  '  m> 


Ernesti's  application  of  this  remark  is  particularly  illumin- 
ating," dicuntur  tyranni  maxime  postulare  Xoyov  la^YjjjiaTtcrjjievov, 
i.e.,  veluti  coloratura  et  dissimulatum,  ne  quid  Ernesti, 

apertius  et  directe  dictum  eos  oifendat.     Nempe  Lexicon 

qui'scapham  scapham  dicunt  non  admodum  illis       Graccorum 
grati  sunt  itaque  per  a^iq^aTa  cum  iis  loquendum       Rhetoricx, 
est.     Hinc  et  tails  oratio   dicitur  X6yo<;  aa^aXiq?, 
oratio  tuta,  qua  alios  non  oifendimus  quamvis  mentem  nos- 
tram  significamus.  " 

Freedom  and  unfettered  democracy  stimulate  oratory. 
Sparta  and  Crete  do  not  count  any  orators  at  all,  Rhodes  had 
some,  but  Athens  excels;  cf  .  Pericles'  Funeral  Oration,  Thucy- 
dides,  ii.,  35-47,  for  a  comparison  of  the  governments  of 
Athens  and  Sparta. 

"Vera  eloquentia  et  libertatis  socia  et  alumna  est  quae 
si  occiderit  oratori  provincia  sua  sublata  est."  Sicily  iS  the 
fatherland  of  rhetorical  oratory  according  to  Spengel, 
Aristotle.  After  the  tyrants  had  been  removed 


and    the    democracy   restored,    private    disputes    T€XVUV>  pi 
were  brought  to  the  law  courts  and  a  great  interest  in  forensic 
oratory  ensued.     Freedom  of  speech  prevailed.     Empedocles 


6  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

of  Agrigentum  (490-430)  extolled  by  Lucretius  (i.,  716  ff.), 
as  the  chief  glory  of  that  wonderful  three-cornered  Sicilian 
isle,  did  not  publish  any  treatise  on  the  art  of  oratory,  but 
he  it  was  who  instructed  Corax  of  Syracuse  (fl.  470  B.C.)  who 
in  turn  taught  Tisias,  the  reputed  master  of  Isocrates  and 
Lysias. 

Gorgias  of  Leontini  (480-375),  discipulus  Empedoclis 
(cf.  Quintilian,  iii.,  i,  8),  acquired  the  greatest  glory  by 
the  brilliancy  of  his  eloquence,  and  when  sent  on  an 
embassy  to  Athens  (427),  to  crave  assistance  against  the 
Syracusans,  so  impressed  the  cultured  Athenians  that  "be- 
sides granting  his  request,  they  besought  him  to  instruct  their 
children. 

Fanciful  writers  have  tried  to  give  this  Sicilian  the  credit 
of  having  taught  Pericles  which  could  hardly  be  possible  if 
this  embassy  occurred  in  427  and  Pericles  died  in  429.  Spengel 
says  that  there  was  as  much  difference  between  the  style  of 
Gorgias  and  that  of  his  Athenian  auditors  as  between  the 
orations  of  Cato  and  Cicero. 

b.  DIDACTIC  WRITING  SUITED  TO  THE  PERIOD 

During  this  period  of  oppression  there  were  few  outlets 
of  literary  craving.  Discouraged  or  embittered  as  the  case 
may  be,  by  the  state  of  society,  men  of  position,  debarred 
from  influence  in  the  state,  sought  refuge  in  philosophy,  in 
the  careful  study  and  annotation  of  the  writings  of  the 
past,  or  in  laborious  investigation,  but  above  all  the  study 
of  scholastic  rhetoric  seemed  most  satisfying  and  most  safe; 
but  it,  too,  gradually  lost  all  its  vitality,  through  its  unvarying 
monotony,  and  finally  degenerated  into  petty  pedantry  and 
hair-splitting. 

The  natural  genius  of  Rome,  with  its  faculty  of  creating 
and  maintaining  order  and  its  reverence  for  law,  was  well 
adapted  to  oratory,  history,  and  didactic  exposition,  but 
oratory  especially  under  Domitian  had  degenerated  into  the 
practice  of  the  "delatores,"  chief  among  whom  was  Regulus 
(cf.  Pliny,  Ep.,  2,  20). 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC   METAPHORS  7 

It  had  suffered,  too,  from  the  rise  of  the  declamatores,  a 
product  of  the  Silver  Age  (according  to  Seneca) . 

"  Facile    est   mihi    ab   incunabulis   nosse   rem  Seneca, 

post  me  natam,  i.e.,  declamationem. "  Controv.  12 

In  comparison  with  the  orators  of  the  Republic,  e.g., 
Antonius  and  Cassius,  Cicero,  Pollio,  and  Calvus,  how  ob- 
scure are  the  names  of  the  orators  of  this  age.  To  be  sure, 
we  have  heard  much  of  Domitius  Afer  through  his  disciple 
Quintilian,  but  little  of  Marcus  Aper  and  Julius  Secundus 
whom  Tacitus  took  as  models  in  his  early  youth,  .and  Vibius 
Crispus,  Eprius  Marcellus,  and  Trachalus. 

Historical  writing  suffered  most  of  all  and  especially  lan- 
guished under  the  jealous  censorship  of  the  government. 

Those  whose  natural  proclivities  led  them  to  this  dangerous 
field  felt  the  necessity  of  becoming  imbued  with  rhetoric. 

Cremutius  Cordus  paid  dearly  for  his  candor  in  TEC.,  An.  iv., 
calling  Brutus  and  Cassius  the  last  of  the  Romans.  34 

Velleius  Paterculus  and  Valerius  Maximus  held  their  own 
by  servile  flattery,  while  Statius,  choosing  a  theme  quite 
safe,  from  its  remoteness,  the  "War  on  Thebes,"  yet  spent 
twelve  years  upon  its  elaboration.  Did  he  fear  that  something 
in  it  might  offend?  (Cf.  Tacitus,  Dialogus,  2.)  "Curiatius 
Maternus  Catonem  recitaverat  cum  offendisse  potentium 
animos  diceretur. " 

2.     QUINTILIAN  IN  RELATION  TO  HIS  TIMES 

What  Professor  Delamarre  says  of  Tacitus  might  with 
equity  be  said  of  Quintilian:  "Vivant  dans  un  siecle  ou  la 
vertu  etait  un  crime  et  la  complaisance  servile  Delamarre, 
a  1'egard  du  pouvoir  la  condition  meme  de  Literature 
1' existence,  il  a  le  rare  courage  de  garder  sa  dignite  Francaise 
et  de  demeurer  honne~te." 

Some,  however,  might  take  exception  to   this  statement  ^ 
from  the  fact    that    Quintilian    (x.    i.    91)    yielded   to   the 
fashion  of  his  times  in  indulging  in  fulsome  praise  of   the 
monstrous  tyrant  Domitian. 

This  one  weakness,  however,   must  not   be  censured  too 


8  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC   METAPHORS 

rigidly,  considering  that  this  valuable  treatise  might  have  been 
consigned  to  oblivion  had  there  been  no  mention  whatever 
made  of  this  ruling  monarch,  and  Quintilian  may  be  pardoned 
if  he  (who  was  by  no  means  the  pessimist  that  Tacitus  was) , 
fulfilled  the  duty  imposed  upon  him  as  one  of  the  penalties 
for  living  in  that  age  and  generation  by  focussing  his  atten- 
tion for  a  moment,  with  the  aid  of  a  rose-colored  microscope, 
on  the  sole  features  of  Domitian's  reign  that  could  be  made 
to  reflect  the  slightest  credit  on  his  name,  viz.,  his  military 
\  adventures  in  Gaul  and  Germany  and  his  interest  (of  short 
\  duration)  in  letters. 

"parum  decore  Domitianum  confecto  prope  bello  alienag 
gloria  interventurum "  .  .  .  ' '  simplicitatis  ac  modestiae  im- 
Tacitus,  agine  in  altitudinem  conditus  studiumque  lit- 
Hist.  iv.  85  terarum  et  amorem  carminum  simulans." 

This  seems  to  be  the  only  blot  on  the  escutcheon  of  the 
teacher  of  the  grandnephew  of  Domitian  by  whom  he  was 
raised  to  consular  rank,  and,  if  we  can  trust  Juvenal,  wras  made 
quite  wealthy  by  his  teaching. 

Juvenal,  uunde  tot  Quintilianus  habit  saltus?" 

7. 196  also  197         "si  fortuna  volet  fies  de  rhetore  consul. " 

But  when  we  consider  with  what  extravagant  language 
Velleius  Paterculus  praised  Tiberius  and  Sejanus  when  he 
(Sejanus)  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  power,  how  Statius  prefixed 
to  his  Thebaid  a  florid  dedication  to  Domitian,  the  servile 
eulogies  of  Martial,  Pliny's  tiresome  panegyric  of  Trajan, 
Quintilian's  temporary  aberration  from  his  habitual  veracity 
does  not  seem  so  heinous  in  our  sight. 

"Modern  criticism  may  partially  explain,  but  it  cannot 
enable  us  to  enter  with  sympathy  into  the  peculiar  phase  of 
Sellar,  Roman  tne  latter  days  of  paganism,  the  deification  of  the 
Poets  of  the  Emperors.  In  the  pages  of  Tacitus,  the  worship 
of  the  Emperors  appears  as  an  established  cultus, 
as  the  symbol  and  the  instrument  of  Roman  domination  over 
foreign  nations.  Yet  to  condemn  them  of  a  base  servility 
and  hypocrisy  would  be  to  judge  them  altogether  from  a 
modern  standpoint." 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  9 

"Ceterum  tempora  ilia  adeo  infecta  et  adulatione  sordida 
fuere  ut  non  modo  primores  civitatis  quibus  claritudo  sua 
obsequiis  protegenda  erat,  sed  consulares,  magna  Tacitus, 
pars  eorum  qui  praetura  functi  .  .  .  exsurgerent  Annals  iii.  65 
foedaque  et  nimia  censerent." 

It  is  pleasant  to  turn  to  the  other  phase  of  his  relation  to 
his  times,  to  see  how  staunchly  he  set  his  pen  against  the 
corruption  of  the  day. 

His  simplicity  and  his  sincerity  stand  out  in  bold  relief  in 
contrast  to  the  sham  philosophers  or  professors,  who  adopted 
a  peculiarity  of  look,  austerity  of  demeanor,  and  a  dress  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  other  men  as  cloaks  for  the  vilest  im- 
moralities. 

This  stricture  can  hardly  be  considered  too  severe  since 
Domitian  felt  impelled  to  pass  an  edict  expelling  philosophers, 
just  as  in  161  B.C.,  when  Valerius  Messalla  was  Suet.,  De 
consul,  a  senatus  consultum  was  passed  ejecting  Rheioribus  i 
philosophers  and  rhetors,  and  in  92  B.C.,  L.  Licinius  Crassus, 
as  censor,  considered  the  influence  of  the  Latin  rhetors  per- 
nicious and  closed  their  schools. 

"Quos  ego  censor  edicto  meo  sustuleram,  non  quo,  acui 
ingenia  adulescentium  nollem,  sed  contra  ingenia  Cicero,  De 
obtundi  nolui,  corroborari  impudentiam. "  Oratore$.  93 

But  despite  these  edicts,  the  schools  of  the  rhetors  managed 
to  secure  a  firm  footing  in  Rome  and  became  immensely 
popular  even  without  much  improvement  in  their  moral 
influence.  Cf.  Tacitus,  Dialogus,  35,  where  he  gives  us  a 
very  bad  impression  of  the  rhetors  of  Quintilian's  time. 
He  says  youths  are  placed  with  the  schoolmen,  the  scho- 
lastici,  the  so-called  rhetors — schools  where  there  is  little 
but  what  is  evil,  where  the  earlier  course  is  in  the  Sua- 
sorise  and  the  higher  in  the  Controversial,  and  as  these  are 
utterly  fictitious,  so  is  the  elocution  applied  in  grandiloquent 
phrase. 

Quintilian  felt  the  need  of  exerting  his  powers  to  coun- 
teract their  evil  influence  and  their  superficial  methods, 
and  to  elevate  the  tone  of  the  rhetor  to  as  lofty  a  plane  as 
possible. 


io  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

We  feel  this  in  his  oft -repeated  insistence  upon  the  necessity 
of  attention  to  preliminary  studies,  to  the  acquisition  of  as 
thorough  a  knowledge  as  possible,  but  above  and  beyond  all, 
that  an  orator  must  be  a  good  man. 

He  reverts  to  and  upholds  Cato's  definition  of  an  orator, 
"vir  bonus  dicendi  peritus. " 

The  very  fact  that  he  repeats  this  qualification  so  often 
proves  that  it  was  not  generally  considered  a  necessity  by  his 
contemporaries. 

He  puts  himself  on  record  as  opposed  to  the  music  in  the 

1  io  theatre  of  his  day  which  is  of  so  effeminate  and 

demoralizing  a  character  that  it  destroys  what 
little  of  manly  strength  is  left  in  them. 

He  insists  that  the  teacher  be  of  an  unimpeach- 
able moral  character,  "Ipse  nee  habeat  vitia  nee 
ferat. " 

He  finds  fault  with  the  so-called  courtesy  in  vogue  in  the 

2  schools,  where  boys  exchange  extravagant  lauda- 
tions  when   their   fellow   pupils   declaim,  which 

results  in  unbecoming  and  theatrical  display  most  pernicious 
to  earnest  study. 

He  is  not  in  sympathy  with  those  who  are  too  slavish 

admirers  of  the  bristling  and  bare  style  of  Cato 

and  the  Gracchi,  nor  with  the  other  extreme,  of 

those  who  are  carried  away  with  the  up-to-date  delight  in 

florid  extravagance. 

UA    corruptissima    quoque     poetarum   figuras 
seu    translationes    (metaphors)    mutuamur,  turn 
demum  ingenuosi  scilicet  si  ad  intellegendos  nos 
opus  sit  ingenio." 

"  Veterum  ilium  horrorem  dicendi  malim  quam 
istam  novam  licentiam." 

"Amisimus  modum  et  gratiam  rei  nimia  cap- 
tatione  consumpsimus. " 

uDuram  potius  asperam  compositionem  malim  esse  quam 
effeminatam  et  enervem,  qualis  apud  multos,  et 
cotidie     magis     lascivimus     syntonorum    modis 
saltitantes. " 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  u 

One  more  quotation  to  show  Quintilian's  attitude  to- 
ward his  times,  "alios  recens  hsec  lascivia  deliciaeque  et 
omnia  ad  voluptatem  multitudinis  imperitae  composita 
delect  ant." 

a.  QUINTILIAN'S  EFFORT  TO  REHABILITATE  THE  CICERONIAN 

MANNER  AND  TO  MINIMIZE  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  SENECA 

The  repressive  tyranny  of  Vespasian's  son  checked  free 
utterance  of  thought  and  stifled  for  the  time  the  higher  forms 
of  literature,  but,  with  the  exception  of  the  protest  uttered 
(76  A.D.)  in  the  Dialogus  de  Oratoribus  by  Tacitus  which  seems 
to  show  the  influence  of  his  master  Quintilian,  it  is  in  this  reign 
that  we  find  the  first  strenuous  attempt  to  arrest  the  decay  of 
style  and  to  uphold  as  against  the  misleading  tendency  of 
Seneca  the  standard  of  a  purer  taste. 

Among  the  teachers  whom  Vespasian  encouraged,  and 
endowed  with  a  salary  from  his  own  privy  purse  was  Quintil- 
ian ,  and  he  it  was  who  seized  every  opportunity  to  laud  and 
magnify  the  manner  of  Cicero,  ever  directing  his  hearers  to 
the  true  fountain-head  of  eloquence  and  turning  them  aside/ 
from  the  enervating  style  of  the  day. 

He  recommends  that  boys  read  the  old  writers  in  preference 
to  the  new :  ' '  Qui  omnium  operum  solam  virtutem  sententias 
putaverunt.  Sanctitas  certe  et  virilitas  ab  iis  i  g 

petenda   est,    quando   nos   in   omnia   deliciarum 
vitia  dicendi  defluximus. " 

' '  Praecipuum  lumen  sicut  eloquentiae  ita  prseceptis  quoque 
eius  dedit,  unicum  apud  nos  specimen  ornandi  docendique 
oratorias  artes,  M.  Tullius;  post  quern  tacere  3  i  20 

modestissimum  foret,  nisi  et  rhetoricos  suos  ipse 
adolescenti  sibi  elapsos  diceret  et  in  oratoriis  hsec  minora,  quse 
plerumque  desiderantur,  sciens  omisisset." 

Quintilian   is    such    an   admirer   of    Cicero   that   he  won- 
ders   at    times  whether   it    is   his    affection   for  633 
the  man  that  makes  him  see  nothing  but  good 
qualities : 

"  Mihi  quidem  sive  id  recte  iudico  sive  amore  immodico 


12  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

praecipui  in  eloquentias  viri  labor  mira  quasdam  in  eo  videtur 
fuisse  urbanitas." 

In  the  Introduction  of  the  8th  Book,  he  sum- 
s' 3*  3* 

marizes  the  faults  of  his  contemporaries. 

It  generally  happens  that  the  greater  the  attention  paid 
to  artificialities  of  style  the  poorer  oratory  becomes,  for  the 
best  expressions  are  the  least  far-fetched — those  which  betray 
undue  care  appear  artificial  and  studied.  What  can  be  said 
simply  is  overwhelmed  with  a  copiousness  of  words,  and  we 
often  think  it  better  to  hint  our  thoughts  than  to  express  them. 
Yet  Cicero  plainly  taught  us  that  the  greatest  fault  in  orators 
was  to  depart  from  the  commonly  accepted  style  of  language. 

"Est  etiam  in   quibusdam  turba  inanium  verborum,  qui 

dum   communem   loquendi   morem   reformidant, 
8.  2.  17 

ducti   specie   nitons    circumeunt    omma    copiosa 
loquacitate  quae  dicere  nolunt." 

"Alii  brevitatem  aemulati  necessaria  quoque  orationi  sub- 
g  trahunt  verba,  et  velut  satis  sit  scire  ipsos  quae 

dicere  velint,   quantum  ad  alios  pertineat  nihil 
putant." 

The  sententious  epigrammatic  style  is  scored,  "Sed  consue- 
tudo  iam  tenuit,  ut  mente  concepta  sensus  vocaremus,  lumina 
autem  praecipueque  in  clausulis  posita  sententias,  quae  minus 
celebratse  apud  antiques  nostris  temporibus  modo  carent." 
It  was  this  excess  to  which  he  objected:  the  feeling  that  it 
was  necessary  to  end  every  period  with  a  fine  quotable  thought. 
xQuintilian  did  not  always  resist  the  temptation  himself,  and 
we  can  feel  the  influence  of  the  age  in  the  following  didactic 
epigrams. 

Pro   m  i  Facereenim  optima  quampromitteremaluerunt. 

i.  2.  5.  Non    accipiunt    ex    scholis   mala    ista    sed    in 

scholas  afferunt. 

(Note  the  chiastic  order.) 
i.  2.  1 6  Aliud  est  enim  vitare  eas,  aliud  eligere. 

Necesse  est  enim  nimium  tribuat  sibi,  qui  se 
nemini  comparat. 

Frangas   enim   citius   quam   corrigas,    quae   in 
pravum  induruerunt. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  13 

Ex  quo  mihi  inter  virtutes  grammatici  habe- 
bitur  ali  qua  nescire. 

Nam  si  qua  in  his  ars  est  dicentium,  ea  prima  Im  IT  3 
est,  ne  ars  esse  videatur. 

Nihil  pot  est  placere  quod  non  decet.  i.  n.  n 

Adeo  facilius  est  multa  facere  quam  diu.  i.  12.  7 

Stilo  facultas  contingit  auditione  iudicium.  2.  2.  n 

Vix  autem  dici  potest,   quanto  libentius  imi- 
temur  eos  quibus  favemus. 

Erit  ergo  etiam  obscurior,  quo  quisque  deterior.  2.  3.  9. 

Nam  quid  aliud  agimus  docendo  eos,  quam  ne 
docendi  semper  sint? 

Nam  in  omnibus  fere  minus  valent  praecepta  2  -  x- 
quam  experimenta. 

Nimium  enim  risus  pretium  est,  si  probitatis  6  3  35 
impendio  constat. 

Ubique  ars  ostentatur,  veritas  abesse  videatur.        9.  3.  102. 

Facient  quidem  natura  duce  melius  quam  arte ;  9  4  I20 
sed  naturae  ipsi  ars  inerit. 

Cito  scribendo  non  fit,  ut  bene  scribatur;  I0  ,  I0 
bene  scribendo  fit,  ut  cito. 

Studendum  vero  semper  et  ubique.  10.  7.  27. 

Vigilandae  noctes  et  fuligo  lucubrationum  bi-  n.  3.  23. 
benda  et  in  sudata  veste  durandum. 

Non  enim  perfectum  est  quidquam,  quo  12110 
melius  est  aliud. 

'  Plusque,  si  separes,  usus  sine  doctrina   quam          I2   6   4 
citra  usum  doctrina  valet. 

Denique  mala  multi  probant,  nemo  improbat  I2  I0  7g 
bona. 

From  the  above  citations,  we  catch  the  reflection  of  the 
times,  yet  none  of  these  epigrammatic  truths  can  be  considered 
trifling,  vapid,  or  impertinent,  nor  do  they  occur  in  profusion 
or  seem  to  be  forced ;  they  are  a  natural  and  suitable  summing 
up  of  the  thought  of  the  paragraph. 

In  Book  10.  i.  125,  in  his  critical  literary  survey,  in  which 
he  shows  that  the  two  literatures  (Latin  and  Greek)  are  on 
a  footing  of  substantial  equality,  and  fixes  a  canon  of  Latin 


14  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

authors  similar  to  the  recognized  canon  (of  long  standing) 
of  the  Greek  authors,  he  purposely  omits  all  mention  of 
Seneca,  though  he  might  have  been  placed  in  more  than  one 
category,  till  the  very  end;  and  then  he  presents  one  of  his 
most  searching  and  felicitous  characterizations,  giving  the 
reason  for  his  antipathy  to  this  man  of  ready  and  fertile 
wit,  of  extraordinary  application  and  extensive  knowledge, 
showing  no  personal  animus  but  simply  his  concern  for  the 
restoration  of  severer  standards  from  the  vitiated  taste  then 
prevalent. 

He  felt  that  the  youth  were  being  harmed  as  Seneca  was 
almost  the  only  writer  in  their  hands,  and  in  their  efforts  to 
imitate  his  style,  deteriorated  from  him  as  much  as  Seneca 
had  deteriorated  from  the  older  writers. 

Boissier  is  not  in  entire  sympathy  with  Quintilian  here. 

"  Assurement  Quintilien  parait  un  fort  petit  esprit  quand  on 
le  compare  a  Seneque,  mais  il  etait  soutenu  par  un  puissant 
parti,  et  il  tirait  une  autorite  particulier  des  fonctions  dont 
1'empereur  Vespasien  venait  de  le  rev£tir.  Professeur  public, 
d' eloquence  a  Rome,  il  allait  combattre  Seneque  dans  le  mi- 
lieu meme  ou  il  triomphait.  On  sent  que  le  grand  nom  de 
Seneque  se  gere  un  peu,  il  a  soin  de  ne  condamner  en  lui  que 
le  chef  d'une  ecole  nouvelle  ennemie  de  Ciceron  et  des 
orateurs  anciens.  Quintilien  y  representait  le  re  tour  aux 
traditions  anciennes  et  les  protestations  du  passe  contre  les 
doctrines  nouvelles. " 

b.    QUINTILIAN,    AN    EXEMPLAR    OF    THE    INFUSION    OF    NEW 
BLOOD  INTO  ROME  FROM  THE  PROVINCES 

With  the  accession  of  Tiberius,  Roman  literary  life  was  fast 
becoming  effete,  and  it  would  have  suffered  an  earlier  death 
had  it  not  been  for  the  provinces  which  began  to  strengthen 
and  enrich  the  mistress  of  the  world. 

Not  only  were  the  provinces  more  virtuous,  but  they 
were  happier  and  were  particularly  eager  for  culture  and  self- 
improvement.  As  Juvenal,  15.  112,  says,  when  districts  far 
removed  from  the  capital  desired  to  become  a  part  of  the 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  15 

civilized  world,  they  straightway  set  about  establishing  schools 
and  sending  for  rhetors. 

"De  conducendo  loquitur  iam  rhetore  Thule."   Juv.,  15.  112 
UT  A.       j      i»T^  -j.  ±'        -.       cf.  Bcissier 

La  conquete  de   1  Jbspagne  avait   coute  pres 

de  deux  siecles  aux  Romaines;  c'est  le  pays  qu'  ils  ont  mis 
le  plus  de  temps  a  soumettre.  Mais,  si  la  resistance  avait 
ete  longue,  la  soumission,  une  fois  acceptee,  fut  complete. 
Les  haines  s'apaiserent  rapidement;  il  ne  rest  a  plus  de 
souvenir  des  anciennes  luttes.  Les  Espagnols  adopterent  tres 
vite  les  opinions,  les  usages,  et  m&ne  la  langue  de  leurs  vain- 
queurs.  .  .  . 

"II  n'y  a  pas  de  doute  qu'en  Espagne  aussi  bien  qu'ailleurs 
la  conquete  des  classes  elevees  n'ait  ete  faite  par  1'ecole  et 
comme  1'ecole  romaine  se  composait  presque  uniquement  de 
grammariens  et  de  rheteurs,  c'est  la  grammaire  et  la  rhetorique 
qui  ont  conquis  la  barbaric  a  la  civilisation.  " 

The  enthusiasm  with  which  the  Spaniards  de  voted  them.selvesX 
to  these  studies  is  amazing,  and  from  pupils  they  icon  be- 
came masters,  as  is  evinced  by  the  influence  wielded  at  Rome, 
by  the  elder  Seneca,  the  rhetorician  of  proverbial  memory, 
and  his  still  more  illustrious  son,  in  whose  hands  were  the 
affairs  of  state  while  he  was  preceptor  and  minister  of  Nero. 
Lucan,  his  precocious  nephew,  adds  lustre  to  their  native 
town,  Corduba,  the  first  Roman  colony  in  Spain,  and  one 
which  figured  largely  in  the  Civil  War  between  Caesar  and  the 
sons  of  Pompey.  (Cf.  De  Bello  Hispaniensi,  32,  33.) 

Vespasian,  who  had  none  of  the  narrow  municipal  pre- 
judices of  a  native  Roman,  nor  the  class  prejudices  of  an 
aristocrat,  which  had  hampered  his  predecessors  in  their 
reforms,  gave  the  senatorial  rank  to  provincials  (following 
the  policy  of  the  great  Julius),  and  he  gave  also 
the  rights  of  Latin  citizenship,  which  carries  Divus  Julius 
with  it  some  of  the  privileges  of  Roman  citizen-  76 

ship,    to    the    hitherto    subject    communities   in 
some  of  the  provinces.     He,  too,  was  the  first  to  establish  a 
public  school  at  Rome,  and  chose  for  the  head,  Quintilian,      - 
a  native  of  Calagurris,  Spain,  paying  him  an  annual  com- 
pensation of  over  $4,000  from  his  own  privy  purse. 


1 6  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

The  Spaniards  who  settled  in  Rome  were  quite  numerous, 
and  according  to  custom,  formed  a  colony  in  the  great  city, 
\where  the  newcomer  might  find  some  support.  Among  the 
leaders  of  this  literary  centre  were  Columella  of  Gades  (famous 
for  his  De  Re  Rustica),  Pomponius  Mela  of  Tingentera 
(De  Chorographia) ,  the  epigrammatist  Martial  of  Bilbilis, 
Licinius  Sura,  his  patron,  whom  he  addressed  as  "doc- 
torum  Licini  celeberrime  Sura  virorum,  cuius  prisca  graves 
lingua  reduxit  avos,"  Maternus  also  honored  by  Martial 
his  compatriot,  "iuris  et  aequarum  cult  or  sanctissime  legum, 
veridico  latium  qui  regis  ore  frenum, "  and  the  Stoic  Herennius 
Senecio  of  Hispania  Bastica,  who  was  put  to  death  by  Domi- 
tian  because  he  had  published  a  book  in  praise  of  Helvidius 
Priscus  (cf.  Tac.,  Agr.z). 

Gaul  furnished  many  orators  and  rhetoricians,  e.g.,  Votienus 
Montanus,  Domitius  Afer,  instructor  of  Quintilian,  Julius 
Florus,  Africanus,  Sex.  Julius  Gabinianus,  Ursulus,  Rufus, 
and  Marcus  Aper. 

Africa  is  referred  to  by  Juvenal  (  7.  148)  as  "  Nutricula  con- 
sidicorum. "  Among  the  Africans  prominent  at  Rome  was 
the  pleader  Septimius  Severus,  probably  the  grandfather  of 
the  later  emperor  of  the  same  name  (born  in  Africa  in  146). 

Much  later,  Sulpicius  Apollinaris  of  Carthage,  and  Apuleius, 
the  platonic  philosopher,  flourished. 


Quintilian's     Use    of    Metaphors, 
Similes,    and    Comparisons 

I.     DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Due  no  doubt  to  the  influence  of  Corax,  Tisias,  and  Gorgias, 
the  Sicilians,  who  are  credited  with  having  founded  the  art 
of  rhetoric,  a  very  large  number  of  Greek  rhetors  arose,  among 
whom  may  be  cited  Isocrates,  Aristotle,  his  pupil  Theophrastus, 
Theodectes,  Hermagoras,  Caecilius,  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus, 
Longinus,  Demetrius  Phalereus,  Apollodorus  (the  instructor 
of  Augustus  while  at  Apollonia) ,  and  Theodorus  (under  whom 
Tiberius  studied  at  Rhodes),  to  be  balanced  at  Rome  by  an 
equally  long  list  of  Latin  rhetoricians,  e.g.,  Cato  and  Antonius, 
Cornificius  (who  lived  in  Sulla's  time  and  wrote  the  technical 
treatise  Ad  Herennium),  Cicero,  Rutilius  Lupus,  and  Celsus 
(contemporaries  of  Seneca),  Cornutus  and  Aquila  Romanus. 

In  consequence,  there  existed  a  great  diversity  Quint 
of  opinion,  an  "infinita  dissensio  auctorum, "  a 
mass  of  categories  and  hairsplitting  subtleties. 

Quintilian  aims  at  the  simplification  of  technicalities  and—" 
repeatedly  opposes  the  "affectata  subtilitas"  of  the  ordinary 
manuals  on  rhetoric.    C/.Bk.I.Prooem,24,2.i5.37,and3. 11.21. 

In  the  matter  of  the  enthymeme  he  says,  ude  hoc  parum 
convenit";  with  regard  to  the  question  of  status,  Q  . 
there  are  innumerable  classifications,  and  likewise 
the  difficulties  surrounding  the  matter  of  tropes  (which  point 
appertains  particularly  to  this  paper) ,  constituted  Quint   g  6 
a  "pugna  inexplicabilis. " 

2  17 


18  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC   METAPHORS 

Fortunately,  we  find  the  matter  much  simplified  in  the 
modern  English  books  on  rhetoric;  for  example,  they  do  not 
adhere  to  that  distinction  felt  by  the  ancients  to  be  so  neces- 
sary, between  tropes,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  two-fold  division 
of  figures  of  language  and  figures  of  thought,  on  the  other. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  we  find,  for  the  most  part,  instead  of 
the  old  tripartition,  merely  one  general  class  known  as  Figures 
of  Speech,  under  which  heading  are  treated, — Simile,  Metaphor, 
Personification,  Apostrophe,  Metonomy,  Synechdoche,  Irony, 
Hyperbole,  Antithesis,  Climax,  and  Interrogation;  where- 
as the  majority  of  the  ancient  rhetoricians  considered  Simile 
(etxwv),  Metaphor  (pi£Ta9op3c),  Metonomy  (^eTwvupua),  Synech- 

T>  T  TUT  /A  doche  (auvex-BoYij),  and  Hyperbole  (uxsp^oXYJ)  as 
K..IV.IVI.  (Aq. 

Rom.), p.  22.  tropes  (-rpoxoc)  mores,1  motus2  or  modi,3  i.e.,  the 
R1^^'  ^  I  2  cnanSe  °f  a  word  or  expression  from  its-  own 
(Beda),  peculiar  signification  into  another,  either  from 

p.  60.  necessity  or  for  the  sake  of  ornament. 

Personification  (xpoawxoxotca),  Apostrophe  (axoaTpo?^), 
Irony  (stpwvsta),  Interrogation  (spwTY)|jia),  were  considered 
figures  of  thought  (oyri^xtz  Stavotaq),  figuras  sententiarum, 
mentis,  or  sensus. 

Antithesis  and  Climax  were  classed  as  figures  of  words 
(ap^a™  M££wg),  figurae  verborum,  elocutionis,  sermonis, 
dictionis,  all  of  which  expressions  have  crystallized  into  the 
one  common  name  of  "figures  of  speech." 

As  the  metaphor,  the  trope  par  excellence,  ' '  f requentis- 
simus  et  longe  pulcherrimus, "  has  a  wider  range  than  any 
O  •  t  8  6  other,  and  its  definition  may  readily  include  all 
the  other  tropes  as  subdivisions, viz. :  the  transfer  of 
a  word  from  its  proper  sphere  into  one  not  strictly  appropriate, 
we  think  it  would  be  profitable  to  make  a  study  of  the  meta- 
phors and  similes,  and  parallels  of  Quintilian,  to  point  out  the 
many  and  various  spheres  from  which  he  drew  his  comparisons, 
in  order  to  lend  interest  to  his  technical  subject,  as  he  says 
in  the  procemium  of  Book  III.  "In  ceteris  enim  admiscere 

1  Mores — name  found  in  R.L.M.  (Aq.  Rom.),  p.  22. 

3 Motus — name  found  in  Quint.,  9.  I.  2. 

3  Modi — name  found  in  R.L.M.  (Beda),  p.  60. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  19 

aliquid  nitons  ut  hoc  ipso  alliceremus  magis  iuventutem  ad 
cognitionem  eorum,  quas  necessaria  studiis  arbitrabamur. " 

This  charm  or  grace  of  style  (nitor)  to  a  large  extent  re- 
sults from  a  judicious  application  of  the  three-  —      Q 
fold  use  of  "verba  tralata,"  namely,  simile  (etxwv), 
translatio  (peTo^opa),  and  collatio  (xapajioX^,  i.e.,  parallel  or 
comparison,  not  the  parable  of  Scripture). 

To  show  the  interrelation  of  these  tropes,  cf.  Arist.,  Rhet., 
3.4.:  iffTi  Bs  XOH  -f]  ECXGJV  ^sracpopa.  Btacplpst  yap  (jiixpov.  OT«V  [Jisv 
yap  s'txf)  TOV  'A^cXXIa  (b?  Bs  Xlwv  Ixopsuasv,  ecxwv  ecrnv,  OTOCV  Be 
"Xsa>v  Ixopeuae,"  ^isTacpopd  and  Kokondrios  xepi  Tpoicwv,  in 

Rhetores  Graeci  (Spengel),  p.  240  of  Volume  III.: 
Tuapa^oXiQ  sari  xpay^aTOf;    xpbq   TO  lupaypLa   TuapaOsai?  xaTa   Ttva<; 
avaXoyou?    o^otdtYjTac;  and  similarly  the  example   of  icapagoXij 
given  by  Quintilian,  8.3.77. 

''Ut  cum  carceribus  sese  effudere  quadrigae, 
Addunt  in  spatia,  et  frustra  retinacula  tendens 
Fertur  equis  auriga,  neque  audit  currus  habenas." 
Vergil,  Georgics,  I.  512-515. 

Seneca  (Ep.,  59.  6)  pointing  out  to  his  friend,  Lucilius,  the 
features  which  pleased  him  in  his  style  of  composition,  enu- 
merates these  three  only :  "  Invenio  translationes  Cf.  Arist., 
verborum  (metaphors)  ut  non  temerarias  ita  quae  Rbet.,  3.  4 
periculum  sui  fecerint,  invenio  imagines  (similes),  quibus  si 
quis  non  uti  vetat  et  poetis  illas  solis  iudicat  esse  concessas, 
neminem  mihi  videtur  ex  an ti quis  legisse,  apud  quos  nondum 
captabatur  plausibilis  oratio:  illi  qui  simpliciter  et  demon- 
strandae  rei  causa  eloquebantur,  parabolis  referti  sunt,  quas 
existimo  necessarias,  non  ex  eadem  causa  qua  poetis,  sed 
ut  inbecillitatis  nostrae  adminicula  sint,  ut  et  dicentem  et 
audientem  in  rem  praesentem  adducant."  Cf.  also  Quintilian, 
8.  6.  49.  "Illud  vero  longe  speciosissimum  genus  orationis  in 
quo  trium  permixta  est  gratia,  similitudinis,  allegoriae  (con- 
tinua  metaphora),  translationis." 

The  important  r61e  played  by  these  tropes  is  constantly 
urged  by  Quintilian  and  Cicero,  e.g.,  "Oratio  Quint.,  12. 
translationum  nitore  illuminanda"  ...  "praeclare  I0-  3<> 


20  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

vero  ad  inferendam  rebus  lucem  repertae  sunt  similitudines  " 

.  .  .  "tralatum   quod  maxime  tarn  quam  stellis  quibusdam 

Cic.,  De.  Or.,   notat  et  luminat  orationem.  "    Cf.  also  Demetrius 

3-  i7o  Phalereus: 

Rh.  Gr.  III.     Kp&ta  '^v  ouv  \L&:xqopaii<;  ^pr^Tsov.  a5rai  yap 

?•  280  y.ai  Y}BovY)v  cujji^aXXovTai  TOI?  Xoyotq  xat 


Quintilian  (8.  6.  9),  following  the  practice  of  his  predecessors 
(e.g.,  Trypho),  made  a  fourfold  division  of  metaphors  into: 
Rh.  Gr.,  III.         I-   When  one  thing  with  life  is  put  for  another 
P-   192  thing  with  life. 

II.  When  one  thing  without  life  is  put  for  another  without 
life. 
-!/  III.  A  thing  without  life  for  a  thing  with  life. 

IV.  A  thing  with  life  for  a  thing  without  life. 

Adopting  this  classification,  we  find  : 

A.     ONE  THING  WITH  LIFE  is  PUT  FOR  ANOTHER  WITH  LIFE: 
(dhcb  i{ 


For  the  purpose  of  teaching  that  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  grammar  (i.e.,  all  that  was  included  in  the  work  of  the 
grammaticus)  be  considered  as  of  the  utmost  importance: 

Quo  minus  sunt  ferendi,  qui  hanc  artem  ut  tenuem  atque 
Architecture,  ieiunam  cavillantur,  quse  nisi  oratoris  futuri 
i.  4-  5  fundamenta  fideliter  iecit  quidquid  superstrux- 

eris,  corruet. 

To  teach  the  need  of  caution  and  restraint  after  facility 
of  composition  has  been  obtained  by  diligent  practice  in 
reading,  writing,  and  speaking: 

Sed  turn  maxime,  cum  facultas  ilia  contigerit,  resist  amus 
Chariot-race,  et  provideamus  et  f  erentes  equos  frenis  quibusdam 
10.  3.  10.  coerceamus;  quod  non  tarn  moram  faciet  quam 
novos  impetus  dabit. 

Witnesses  should  know  all  the  facts  of  the  case  and  be 
drilled  in  the  art  of  answering  questions,  before  the  trial: 

Sic  ut  fit,  ut  aut  const  ent  sibi,  aut  si  quid  titubaverint, 
Child-Study,  opportuna  rursus  eius,  a  quo  producti  sunt, 
5-7-  ii  interrogatione  velut  in  gradum  reponantur. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  21 

The  epilogue  suitable  for  the  application  of  xaOoq  and 
amplification : 

Tune  est  commovendum  theatrum,  cum  ventum  est  ad 
ipsum  illud,  quo  veteres  tragoediae  comcediaeque  Drama, 

cluduntur,  "Plodite."  6-  I-  S2 

In  praising  the  Attic  style  of  oratory,  but  taking  ex- 
ception to  those  who  imitated  only  the  meagre,  unemotional 
type: 

Quapropter  mihi  falli  multum  videntur,  qui  Dress, 

solos  esse  Atticos  credunt  tenues  et  lucidos  et  I2-  I0-  20 
significantes  et  quadam  eloquentise  frugalitate  contentos  ac 
semper  manum  intra  pallium  continentes. 

In  his  critical  survey  of  Greek  and  Roman  authors,  he 
apologizes  for  leaving  out  some  good  writers: 

Sunt  et  alii  scriptores  boni,  sed  nos  genera  Food, 

degustamus  non  bibliothecas  excutimus.  I0<  x*  I04 

The  work  of  declaiming  under  the  instruction  of  the 
rhetors  should  better  prepare  for  the  actual  practice  at  the 
bar.  • 

Quae  -nos,    quamlibit   per   alia    in    scholis    ex-  Military  Tac- 
.,    , .  ,    .  •     r  .  tics,  2.  10.  10 

ercitati  sumus,  triones  in  toro  invemunt. 

In  defining  the  scope  of  Book  III.,  he  apologizes  for  the 
lack  of  interest  that  may  be  found  therein  and  for  the  fact 
that  it  will  contain  theories  that  some  will  oppose  : 

Propterea  quod  plurimi  auctores,  quamvis  eodem  tenderent, 
diversas  vias  muniverunt  atque  in  suam  quisque 
induxit  sequentes.     UK  autem  probant  qualecum- 
que  ingressi  sunt  iter. 

Witnesses  should  be  well-posted  beforehand  : 

Turbantur  enim  et  a  patronis  diversae  partis,  inducuntur 
in  laqueos  et  plus  deprehensi  nocent  quam  firmi 
et  interriti  profuissent. 

The  pleader  should  be  influenced  in  handling  his  case,  by 
the  attitude  and  expression  of  the  judge: 

Et  instare  proficientibus  et  ab   iis,  quae   non  6  4  10 

adiuvent,  quam  mollissime  pedemoportet  referre. 

To  emphasize  the  importance  of  the  work  of  an  orator  and 
his  need  of  preparation: 


22  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Nos  vero  armatos  stare  in  acie  et  summis  de  rebus 
10.  i.  30  decernere  et  ad  victoriam  niti. 

In  speaking  of  the  orator's  need  of  a  knowledge  of  civil  law 
despite  the  existence  of  "pragmatici,  "  men  versed  in  law  who 
furnished  orators  and  advocates  with  the  principles  on  which 
they  based  their  speeches: 

I2   ^   4  Qui  velut  ad  arculas  sedent  et  tela  agentibus 

sumministrant. 

In  censuring  the  practice  of  embellishing  trivial  matters 
with  strong  coloring,  he  draws  his  metaphor  from  the  art  of 
smearing  musical  instruments  with  wax  in  order  to  produce 
a  deep  tone: 

At  quidam,  etiamsi  forte  susceperunt  negotia  paulo  ad 
Music,  dicendum  tenuiora,  extrinsecus  adductis  ea  rebus 

12.  9.  8          circumliniunt. 

In  the  prefatory  note  to  the  publisher,  he  compares  him- 
self, starting  out  on  this,  his  first  real  literary  venture,  to  a 
sailor  putting  out  to  sea: 

Navigation,         Permittamus  vela  vehtis  et  oram   solventibus 
Preface  precemur. 

In  the  peroration  vent  may  be  given  to  the  feelings : 
6   T     -  Nam  et  si  bene  diximus  reliqua,  possidebimus 

iudicum  animos,  et  e  confragosis  atque  asperis 
evecti  tot  a  pandere  possumus  vela. 

If  called  upon  suddenly  to  speak  extempore,  great  care 
and  deliberation  and  coolness  must  be  preserved  : 

Hoc,  dum  egredimur  e  portu,  si.  nos  nondum  aptatis  satis 
io  armamentis  aget  ventus;  deinde  paulatim  simul 

euntes  aptabimus  vela  et  disponemus  'rudentes 
et  impleri  sinus  optabimus.  Id  potius,  quam  se  inani  ver- 
borum  torrenti  dare  quasi  tempest  atibus,  quo  volent, 
auferendum. 

In  this  his  last  book  (i2th)  Quintilian  pauses  to  look 
back  upon  his  work,  which  has  grown  beyond  his  ex- 
pectations : 

12    Procem         Mox  velut   aura  sollicitante  provecti  longius, 

.  .  .  nee  adhuc  a  litore  procul  videbamur. 
Continuing  this  metaphor  so  that  it  develops  into  allegory : 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  23 

Unum  modo  in  ilia  immensa  vastitate  cernere  videmur  M. 
Tullium,  qui  tamen  ipse,  quamvis  tanta  atque  ita  instructa 
nave  hoc  mare  ingressus  contrahitque  vela  inhibetque  remos 
et  de  ipso  demum  genere  dicendi  quo  sit  usurus  perfectus 
orator,  satis  habet  dicere. 

In  comparing  the  relative  advantages  and  disadvantages 
of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages: 

Ingenia  Grascorum  etiam  minora  suos  portus  habent:  nos 
plerumque  maioribus  velis  moveamur,  validior  spiritus  nostros 
sinus  tendat;    non  tamen  alto  semper  feramur, 
nam  et  litora  interim  sequenda  sunt.     Illis  facilis 
per  quaelibet  vada  accessus;  ego  aliquid,  non  multo  tamen, 
altius,  in  quo  mea  cymba  non  sidat,  inveniam. 

In  conclusion  he  advises  the  orator,  upon  seeing  the  ap- 
proach of  old  age,  to  retire  from  active  service,  while  still 
in  the  possession  of  all  his  faculties : 

Quare  antequam  in  has  aetatis  veniat  insidias, 
receptui  canet  et  in  portum  integra  nave  perveniet. 

In  advocating  classes  in  preference  to  private  instruction: 

Deinde  cum  proferenda  sunt  studia,  caligat  in  Physical 
sole  et  omnia  nova  offendit.  World,  i.  2. 19 

To  illustrate  his  view  that  boys  should  not  be  detained  too 
long  on  fictitious  cases : 

Ne  ab  ilia,  in  qua  prope  consenuerint,  umbra 
vera  discrimina  velut  quendam  solem  reformident. 

That  a  child  should  acquire  as  much  knowledge  as  possible 
while  young: 

Erit  illud  plenius  corpus,  quod  mox  adulta  aetas  astringat. 
Hinc  spes  roboris.  Maciem  namque  et  infirmita-  Physiology, 
tern  in  posterum  minari  solet  protinus  omnibus  2.  4.  6 

membris  expressus  infans. 

To  explain  the  limitations  of  the  rules  of  rhetoric  and  the 
need  of  initiative  at  times : 

Itaque  et  stratum  militari  labore  iter  saepe  deserimus 
compendio  ducti ;  et  si  rectum  limitem  rupti  tor-  Travel, 

rentibus  pontes  inciderint,  circumire  cogemur,  et        2.  13.  16 
si  ianua  tenebitur  incendio  per  parietem  exibimus. 

In  tracing  the  origin  and  growth  of  rhetoric  from  Empedo- 


24  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

cles,  through  Gorgias,  Corax,  and  Tisias  to  the  two  rivals, 
Isocrates  and  Aristotle,  he  says: 

Hinc  velut  diver  sse  secari  coeperunt  vise. 

To  encourage  the  student  to  keep  on  till  he 
has  reached  the  top: 

Desinit  enim  in  adversa    niti,  qui    pervenit  in  summum. 
Travel,  Scandenti  circa  ima  labor  est  ;   ceterum  quantum 

12.  10.  78       processeris,  mollior  clivus  ac  Isetius  solum. 

B.   ONE  THING  WITHOUT  LIFE  FOR  ANOTHER  WITHOUT  LIFE 

(axb  a6u/ou  etc; 


To  explain  his  method  of  teaching  a  child  to  form  its  letters  : 
Agriculture,  Cum  iam  ductus  sequi  cceperit,  non  inutile  eas 
*•  *•  27  tabellas  quam  optime  insculpi  ut  per  illos  velut 
sulcos  ducatur  stilus. 

A  child  should  acquire  as  extensive  knowledge  as  possible  : 
Facile  remedium    est   ubertatis,  sterilia   nullo 
labore  vincuntur. 

The  pleader  must  study  carefully  the  arguments  presented 
by  the  other  side  : 

Rimandum    erit    diligentissime,    quid    sit    in 
quoque  quod  assumitur,  dissimile. 

In  supporting  his  life-work:  to  repristinate  a  purer  taste  in 
place  of  the  vitiated  one  in  vogue  : 

0  n  Quod  sensus  obumbrant  et  velut  laeto  gramine 

8.  Procem.,24 

sata  strangulant. 

Limitations  of  a  teacher  who  has  not  advanced  far  in  his 
subject: 

Architecture,       Ex  quibus  si    quis  erit  plane  impolitus  et  ves- 
x»  5-  7  tibulum  modo  artis  huius  ingressus. 

From  what  he  has  just  said  on  the  importance  and  difficulty 
of  acquiring  a  good  style  of  expression,  he  hastens  to  counteract 
the  impression  that  might  have  been  given,  that  undue 
attention  should  be  given  to  "  words": 

Occurram  enim  necesse  est  et,  velut  in  vestibulo  protinus 

Q  r>  a  apprehensuris  hanc  confessionem  meam  resistam 

8.  Prooem.,  18     ^* 

us,  qui,  omissa  rerum  (qui  nervi  sunt  in  causis) 
diligentia,  quodam  inani  circa  voces  studio  senescunt. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC   METAPHORS  25 

Continuity  and  unity  in  a  speech  necessary : 

Unde  soluta  fere  oratio  et  e  singulis  non  mem- 
bris  sed  frustis  collata,  structura  caret,  cum  ilia 
rotunda  et  undique  circumcisa  insistere  invicem  nequeant. 

Referring  to  the  advantages  of  keeping  in  mind  many 
"communes  loci": 

Ut  quotiens  esset  occasio,  extemporales  eorum  Art, 

dictionis    his     velut     emblematis     exornarentur.          2-  4-  "" 

In  defining  the  scope  of  his  work : 

Non  inu tiles  fore  libri  videbantur,  quos  ab  Dress,  i. 
ipsis  discendi  incunabulis  ad  summam.  Prooem.,  6 

Excessive   embellishment   not   suited   to  forensic   oratory: 

Nee  versicolorem  illam,  qua  Demetrius  Phale- 
reus  dicebatur  ubi,  vestem  bene  ad  forensem 
pulverem  facere. 

To  urge  the  necessity  of  extensive  knowledge  for  children 
to  furnish  material  for  the  work  of  later  years : 

Multum  inde  decoquent  anni,  multum  ratio  limabit,  aliquid 
velut  usu  ipso  deteretur,  sit  mo  do  unde  excidi  Engraving, 
possit  et  quod  exsculpi ;  erit  autem,  si  non  ab  2>  4-  7 

initio  tenuem  nimium  laminam  duxerimus  et  quam  caslatura 
altior  rumpat. 

The  habit  of  composing  a  speech  as  quickly  as  possible 
and  then  rewriting  it,  censured;  it  were  better  to  use  care 
from  the  start: 

Ut  caelandum  non  ex  integro  fabricandum  est.         10-  3-  18 

In  depicting  the  ideal  pupil : 

Hie  erit  alendus  ambitu.  Food, 

To  illustrate  that  instruction  should  be  made 
interesting  for  the  young: 

Quin   ipsis   doctoribus   hoc   esse  curae    velim,    ut   teneras 
adhuc   mentes  more  nutricum  mollius   alant  et 
satiari  velut  quodam  iucundioris  disciplines  lacte 
patiantur. 

In  taking  up  the  parts  of  an  oration :  procemium,  narratio, 
confirmatio,  refutatio,  and  peroratio,  Quintilian  says  that 
digressions  may  be  inserted  in  the  proofs,  but  care  must 
be  taken  lest  they  be  extended  and  diffuse : 


26  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Ne   .   .   .   dilatis  diutius  dicendi  voluptatibus  oratio  refri- 
gescat. 

To  urge  the  value  of  reading  history  as  a  source 
of  strength  to  the  author : 

Historia  quoque  alere  oratorem  quodam  uberi 
10.  i.  31 

lucundoque  suco  potest. 

To  emphasize  the  need  of  keeping  the  voice  in  good  condition 
and  the  draw-backs  to  this : 
IX  Nobis  fuligo  lucubrationum  bibenda  est. 

To  show  the  value  of  securing  the  best  possible 
teachers  for  younger  children  : 

Qua  in  re  mihi  non  arbitror  diu  laborandum,  ut  ostendam, 
Fuller's  Art,  quanto  sit  melius  optimi  inbui,  quanta  in  eluendis 
2*  3<  2  quas  semel  insederint  vitiis  difficultas  consequatur. 

This  excessive  attention  to  choice  of  words  will  not  be 
necessary,  provided: 

Furniture,  Lectione  multa  et  idonea,  copiosam  sibi  ver- 

8  Prooem.,  28  borum  supellectilem  compararit. 

In  the  opening  of  the  third  book  which  deals  with  the  tech- 
nicalities of  "status,"  constitutio,  quaestio,  ordatq  (xapa 
TO  IxaTspov  TWV  dyam^opilvtov  ifcrraaOat  irepi  o  voyi^ei  B(xaiov),  he 
says  in  chiastic  phrase : 

Medicine,  Sed  nos  veremur,  ne  parum  hie  liber  mellis 

3'  *•  5  et  absinthi  multum  habere  videatur. 

This  metaphor  is  taken  from  Lucretius'  lumen: 

"ac  veluti  pueris  absinthia  taetra  medentes, 
cum  dare  conantur,  prius  oras  pocula  circum 
inspergunt  mellis  dulci  flavoque  liquore.  " 

The  use  of  procursiones  is  sometimes  advantageous  in 
winning  over  the  jurors: 

his  igitur  velut  fomentis,  si  quid  erit  asperum,  praemollie- 
o          mus  quo  facilius  aures  iudicum  quae  post  dicturi 

admittant,  ne  ius  nostrum  oderint. 

The  value  of  preliminary  training  in  declamatio  to  prepare 
for  the  forum: 

Military  Tac-      Nisi    quibusdam  pugnae  simulacris    ad    verum 
tics,  2.  10.  8   discrimen  aciemque  justam  consuescimus. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  27 

The  energy  and  caution  needed  in  combating  testimony 
presented  in  person: 

Cum  prassentibus  vero  ingens  dimicatio  est,  ideoque  velut 
duplici  contra  eos  proque  iis  acie  confligitur  ac- 
tionum  at  interrogationum. 

Witnesses  must  be  well  prepared  to  meet  the  cross- questions : 

In    iis    quoque    adhuc,    qui    constiterint    sibi, 
vitandas  insidiae. 

In  refutation,  the  application  of  scorn,  at  times,  helpful: 

Fastidiendo  calcemus  (a  term  borrowed  from  the  act  of  a 
successful    warrio'r    in    trampling  upon  the  foe 
he  has  overcome  in  battle) . 

To  impress  upon  the  orator  the  need  of  constant  read- 
ing, writing,  and  speaking  for  the  cultivation  of  facile 
expression : 

Neque   ergo   arma   squalere   situ   ac    rubigine          Military 
velim,  sed  fulgorem  in  iis  esse  qui  terreat,  qualis        Weapons, 
est  ferri,  quo  mens  simul  visusque  praestringitur, 
non  qualis  auri  argentique,  inbellis  et  potius  habendi  peri- 
culosus. 

In  removing  the  glamor  enveloping  precocity: 

Non    subest    vera    vis    nee    penitus    immissis  Nature, 

radicibus  nititur  *•  3-  5 

In  censuring  the  prevailing  taste  for  artificial  effects: 

Ne  recentis  huius  lascivias  flosculis  capti,  vol- 
uptate  prava  deleniantur.     (Also  10.  5.  23.) 

In  defending  the  proposition  that  rhetoric  is  an  art,  and 
after  enumerating  the  points  of  the  opposite  side : 

Hasc  sunt  prascipua,  quas  contra  rhetoricen  dicantur,  alia 
et    minora  et    tamen    ex  his   fontibus  derivata. 
-(Also  5.  10.  19;  6.  1.51.) 

The. working  up  of  proofs  requires  attention,  but  is  neglected 
by  some : 

Plerumque  aut  omnino  neglegitur  aut  levissime  attingitur 
ab  iis,  qui  argumenta  velut  horrida  et  confragosa  g 

vitantes  amcenis  locis  desident. 

A  good  impressive  style  needs  a  wide  scope  and  originality 
of  treatment : 


28  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Feratur  ergo  non  semitis  sed  campis  .  .  .  ac  sibi  viam,  si 
5.  14.  31  quando  non  acceperit,  faciat. 

A  different  style  of  speaking  to  be  adopted  on 
different  occasions,  e.g.,  for  a  private  assemblage: 

3*  I4  Calculomm  purus  sermo  magis  decuerit. 

The  evil  effect  of  shyness  depicted : 

Nature,  Ut  bona  ingenii  studiique  in  lucem  non  pro- 

12.  5.  2          iata    sjtu    quodam    secreti     consumerentur    (cf. 
also  i.  2.  18). 

In  describing  the  origin  of  the  Rhodian  type  of  oratory 
(the  mean  between  the  terse  Attic  and  the  florid  Asianic) : 

^schines  enim,  qui  hunc  exilio  delegerat  locum  intulit  eo 
studia  Athenarum,  quae,  velut  sata  quaedam  caelo 
terraque  degenerant,  saporem  ilium  Atticum  pere- 
grino  miscuerunt. 

In  taking  up  the  five  duties  of  an  orator:  inventio,  dis- 
positio,  elocutio,  memoria,  and  pronuntiatio,  having  treated 
at  length,  the  matter  of  inventio,  i.e.,  the  art  of  discovering 
the  available  resources  of  a  theme,  he  lays  great  stress  upon 
the  importance  of  the  second  point,  dispositio  (orderly  ar- 
rangement) : 

Sic  oratio  carens  hac  virtute  tumultuetur  necesse  est,  et 
Navigation,  sine  rectore  fluitet — velut  nocte  in  ignotis  locis 
7.  Procem.  3  errans. 

In  his  famous  literary  survey,  Quintilian  delineates 
Isocrates  as : 

Nitidus  et  comptus  et  palaestrae  quam  pugnas  magis  ac- 
Palsestra,  commodatus  omnes  dicendi  Veneres  (graces) 
10.  i.  79  sectatus  est. 

In  mentioning  the  specific  purpose  of  the  book,  for  the  in- 
Physical  st ruction  of  the  son  of  his  friend  Marcellus  Victor : 

World,  Cuius    prima    aetas    manifestum    iam    ingenii 

i.  Prooem.  6  ,  .,., 

lumen  ostendit. 

In  advocating  class  instruction  in  preference  to  private 
tutoring : 

Sed   etiamsi   iungi   non   potest,   lumen   tamen 
illud  conventus  honestissimi  tenebris  ac  solitudini 
praetulissem. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC   METAPHORS  29 

This  comparison  of  the  assemblage  of  people  to  light  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  solitude  of  individual  instruction  to 
darkness  appears  later: 

Ante  omnia  futurus  orator,  cui  in  maxima  celebritate  et 
in  media  rei  publicae  luce  vivendum  est,  assuescat 
iam   a   tenero   non   reformidare   homines   neque 
solitaria  et  velut  (as  it  were)  umbratica  vita  pallescere. 

On  the  origin  of  technical  grammar : 

Non  enim  cum  primum  fingerentur  homines, 
analogia  demissa  caelo  formamque  loquendi  dedit. 

To  illustrate  the  advantages  of  massing  proofs : 

Urgent  universa,  at  si  singula  quaeque  dis- 
solveris,  earn  ilia  flamma,  quae  magna  congerie 
convaluerat,  diductis  quibus  alebatur  concidet. 

An  oration  should  be  expressed  with  perspicuity  as  the 
juror  is  not  always  so  keenly  interested  as: 

Ut  obscuritatem  apud  se  ipse  discutiat  et 
tenebris  orationis  inferat  quoddam  intellegentias 
suae  lumen. 

The  young  declamator  is  not  to  be  deceived  by  his  own 
•dithyrambic  effusions: 

Alioqui  tumor  ille  inanis  primo  cuiuscumque  Physiology, 
veri  operis  conatu  deprehendetur.  2-  I0-  7 

Arguments  to  be  presented  in  as  pleasing  a  manner  as 
possible : 

Ita  et  firmiora  erunt  ipsa  et  plus  habebunt   decoris,   si 
non  nudos  et  velut  carne  spoliates  artus  osten- 
derint.  5"  "•  I7 

Concerning  the  veneer  of  embellishment: 

Ita  nos  habitum  ipsum  orationis  virilem  et 
illam  vim  stricte  robusteque  dicendi  tenera 
quadam  elocutionis  cute  operimus. 

To  urge  caution  and  restraint  in  the  use  of  sententiae 
(epigrammatic  phrases) : 

Ego   vero   hasc  lumina  orationis   velut   oculos 
quosdam    esse    eloquentiae    credo.     Sed    neque 
oculos  esse  toto  corpore  velim,  ne  cetera  membra  officium 
suum  perdant. 


30  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  -  METAPHORS 

Digressions  into  the  field  of  history  to  be  permitted : 

Dum  meminerimus,  non  athletarum  toros  sed 
militum  lacertos  esse. 

In  emulating  others,  we  must  needs  look  below  the  surface 
to  get  at  the  root  of  their  excellencies : 

Nee    sufficiat    imaginem    virtutis    effingere    et 
solam    cutem    vel    potius    illas    Epicuri    figuras 
quas  e  summis   corporibus  dicit  eflhiere. 

The  development  of  the  work  of  the  grammaticus : 
River  Nam    tenuis    a   fonte    assumptis    historicorum 

2.  i.  4  criticorumque  viribus  pleno  iam  satis  alveo  fluit. 

A  rhythmic  and  harmonious  arrangement  of  words  necessary : 
Quod  aures  continuam  vocem  secutas  ductaeque  velut  prono 
decurrentis  orationis  flumine  turn  magis  iudicant  cum  ille 
impetus  stetit  et  intuendi  tempus  dedit. 

In  his  section  on  grammar,  speaking  of  the  purists,  who 
prefer  to  say  conservavisse  and  face  and  dice,  etc. : 
Roads,  Recta  est  haec  via,  quis  negat?  sed  adiacet  et 

1.  6.  22          mollior  et  magis  trita. 

The  art  of  speaking  assisted  by  rules : 

Si  tarnen  rectam  vivam,   non  unam  orbitam 

monstrent;    qua   declinare    qui   crediderit   nefas, 

patiatur  necesse  est  illam  per  funes  ingredientium  tarditatem. 

In  instructing  the  young  on  the  subtle  technicalities  of 

"status": 

Sed  instituentibus  rudes  non  erit  inutilis  latius  primo  fusa 
ratio  et,  si  non  statim  rectissima  linea  tensa, 
facilior  tamen  et  apertior  via. 

The   advantage   to   be   derived   from   learning   by   heart 
passages  from  eminent  authors : 
Treasury,  Abundabunt     autem     copia     verborum     opti- 

2.  7-  4  morum  et  compositione  et  figuris  iam  non  quaesitis 
sed  sponte  et  ex  reposito  velut  thesauro  se  offerentibus.    (Also 
Bk.  8  Prooem.,  29;  and  10.  i.  3.) 

Patient  study  and  a  diligent  use  of  the  pen  necessary  to 
enduring  success  in  oratory: 

Treasury,  *mc  radices,  illic  fundamenta,  illic  opes  velut 

10.  3.  3          sanctiore    aerario    reconditae. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  31 

Passages  from  the  orators  and  historians,  committed  to 
memory,  are  helpful: 

Arma  sunt  haec  quodammodo  praeparanda  Weapons, 
semper,  ut  iis  cum  res  poscet,  utaris.  2-  r-  I2 

To    illustrate    the    fact   that    digressions    are 
useful  provided  they  are  closely  connected  with  the  subject  in 
hand: 

Si  cohasret  et  sequitur,  non  si  per  vim  cuneatur,  Wedge, 

et  quae  natura  iuncta  erant  distrahit.  4-  3-  4 

Precocity  not  to  be  desired: 

Quare  mihi  ne  maturitas  quidem  ipsa  festinet,  nee  musta 
in  lacu  statim  austera  sint,  sic  et  annos  ferent  ^ine  making, 
et  vetustate  proficient.  2.  4.  9 

C.     ONE  THING  WITHOUT  LIFE  is  PUT  FOR  ANOTHER  WITH 

LIFE 

(axb  §s  a^u^ou  dq 


To  urge  the  necessity  of  a  teacher  being  well-informed: 

Quapropter  in   primis   evitandus  et  in  pueris     Agriculture, 
praecipue  magister  aridus.  2-  4>  8 

In  denouncing  artificialities  of  style: 

Maiore   animo   adgredienda   eloquentia  est,    quae   si   toto 
corpore  valet,  unguis  polire  et  capillum  reponere  Man, 

non  existimabit  ad  curam  suam  pertinere.  8>  prooem->  22 

To  teach  the  value  of  a  knowledge  of  technique  in  arousing 
the  emotions: 

Primum  quia  nihil  intrare  potest  in  adfectus, 
quod  in  aure  velut  quodam  vestibulo  statim 
offendit. 

To  illustrate  the  need  of  a  rhythmic  and  harmonious  balance 
of  periods  in  an  oration  : 

Non  igitur  durum  sit  neque  abruptum  quo 
animi  velut  respirant  ac  reficiuntur. 

After  treating  at  length  of  the  matter  of  prosody  : 

Totus  hie  locus  non  ideo  tractatur  a  nobis,  ut 
oratio,  quae  ferri  debet  ac  fluere,  dimetiendis 
pedibus  ac  perpendendis  syllabis  consenescat. 


32  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

To  prove  the  value  of  music  as  part  of  the  curriculum: 
Nature,  Quid  de  philosophis  loquor,  quorum  fons  ipse 

i.  10.  13        Socrates  iam  senex  institui  lyra  non  erubescebat. 

In  delineating  the  three  styles  of  oratory,  the  Attic, 
Asianic,  and  Rhodian,  and  criticising  those  imitators  who 
proudly  called  themselves  "Atticists": 

Quid  est  igitur,  cur  in  iis  demum  qui  tenui  venula  per  cal- 

culos  fluunt,  Atticum  saporem  putent,  ibi  demum  thy  mum 

redolere  dicant?     Quos  ego  existimo,  si  quod  in 

iis  finibus  uberius  invenerint  solum  fertilioremve 

segetem,  negaturos  Atticam  esse,  quod  plus  quam  acceperit, 

seminis  reddat. 

In  dedicating  his  work  to  his  friend  Marcellus  Victor  : 
Ph  sical  Quod    opus,    Marcelle    Victor,    tibi     dicamus 

World,  quern  cum  amicissimum  nobis  turn  eximio  litter- 

1.  Proo3m.,6arum  amore  flagrantem. 

In  speaking  of  the  utility  and  glory  of  rhetorical 
oratory  : 

Nonne  pulchrum  vel  hoc  ipsum  est  ex  communi  intellectu 

verbisque,  quibus  utuntur  omnes,  tantum  adsequi  laudis  et 

glorias,  ut  non  loqui  et  orare,  sed,   quod  Pericli 

2.  ID.    IQ 

contigit,  fulgurare  ac  ton  are  videaris? 

The  part  TuaOo*;  plays  in  an  oration  and  its  effect  upon  the 
iudex: 

River,  ^Estu    fertur,    et    velut    rapido    flumini    obse- 

6-  2-  6  quitur. 

In  describing  the  different  natures  of  children,  and  how 
they  should  be  treated: 

Sint  quidam,  nisi  institeris,  remissi,  quidam  imperia  indig- 
Sculpture,  nantur:  quosdam  continet  metus,  quosdam  de- 
i-  3-  6  bilitat:.  alios  continuatio  extundit,  in  aliis  plus 

impetus  facit. 

D.   A  THING  WITH  LIFE  FOR  A  THING  WITHOUT  LIFE 

(atb  l^u^ou  et'q 


This  style  of  metaphor  was*  conceded  to  be  the  most  beauti- 
ful of  the  four. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  33 

Praecipue  ex  his  oritur  mira  sublimitas,  quae  audaci  et 
proxime  periculum  translatione  tolluntur,  cum  Quint., 

rebus     sensu     carentibus     actum     quendam     et          &•  6.  n 
animos  damus. 

"Die  schonsten  metaphern  sind  diejenigen,  durch  welche 
empfindungslosen     Dingen    Leben    und    Bewus-       v  lk 
stsein  beigelegt  wird." 

In  censuring  the  artificial  subtility  of  the  current  manuals 
on  rhetoric  : 

Non  plerumque  nudas  illas  artes  nimia  subtilitatis  affecta- 
tione  frangunt  atque  concidunt  quidquid  est  in  oratione 
generosius  et  omnem  sucum  ingenii  bibunt  et  Animals, 
ossa  detegunt,  quag  ut  esse  et  astringi  nervis  suis  *•  Prooem.,  24 
debent  sic  corpora  aperienda  sunt.  (A  two-fold  metaphor 
comparing,  on  the  one  hand,  the  dry  rules  of  rhetoric 
to  some  voracious  bird,  and  on  the  other  riand  the  style  or 
expression  to  a  human  frame.) 

In  speaking  of  the  characteristics  of  an  ideal  pupil : 

Hunc  mor debit  objurgatio.  i-  3-  7 

He  taboos  excessive  attention  to  the  choice  of  words: 

Quas  et  cursum  dicendi  refrenat  at  calorem  g  prooem  27 
cogitationis  extinguit  mora  et  diffidentia. 

There  is  a  specific  style  adapted  to  each  kind  of  com- 
position. 

Nee  comcedia  cothurnis  assurgit,   nee    contra  Drama, 

tragoedia  socculo  ingreditur.  I0-  2*  22 

To  inculcate  the  principle  of  education  that  instruction 
for  the  young  should  be  made  brief,  simple,  and  interesting: 

Eo  tempore,  quo  praecipue  alenda  ingenia  atque  indulgentia 
quadam  enutrienda  sunt,  asperiorum  tract atu  Food, 

rerum  atteruntur.  8-  procem-»  2 

To  illustrate  the  importance  of  memory : 

Quare  et  pueri  statim,  ut  praecepi,  quam  plurima  ediscant, 
et  quaecumque  aetas  operam  iuvandas  studio  memoriae  dabit, 
devoret  initio  taedium  illudet  scripta  et  lecta  saspius  Food, 

revolvendi  et  quasi  eundem  cibum  remandendi.  "•  2*  41 

The  advantage  of  the  use  of  "partitio"  which,  as  a  rule, 
should  not  consist  of  more  than  three  parts: 


34  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Military  Quae  sine  dubio,  si  nimium  sit  multiplex,  fugiet 

Tactics,  memoriam  iudicis  et  turbabit  intentionem. 

On  the  expediency  of  massing  at  one  time  your 
proofs,  and  at  another  time  using  them  separately: 

Plura   simul   invadimus,    si   aut    tarn   infirma   ut   pariter 

s    I3    „        impelli    possint,    aut    tarn    molesta    ut    pedem 

conferre   cum  singulis   non  expediat;   turn  enim 

toto  corpore  obnitendum   et  ut  sic  dixerim,  directa  fronte 

pugnandum  est. 

There  is  one  disadvantage  in  a  preliminary  statement  of 
proofs : 

Nature,  Propositis    enim   probationibus    omnis    in    re- 

4-5-4  liquum  gratia  novitatis  prsecerpitur. 

The  importance  of  diligent  writing  and  reading  in  producing 
virility  of  style : 

Nam  neque  solida  atque  robusta  fuerit  umquam  elo- 
Navigation,  quentia,  nisi  multo  stilo  vires  acceperit,  et 
10.  i.  2  citra  lectionis  exemplum  labor  ille  carens  rectore 
fluit. 

To  impress  upon  the  future  orator  that  constant  use  of  the 
pen  is  a  great  help  to  extemporaneous  speaking : 

0  Ita  enim  servabitur  pondus  et  innatans  ilia  ver- 

10.   7-   2o 

borum  f acilitas  in  altum  reducetur .   (Also  7 .  1 .  44.) 

Again  expressing  himself  as  opposed  to  excessive  ornamen- 
tation: 

Quare  quidquid  erit  sententiis  populare,  verbis  nitidum, 
Trade,  figuris  iucundum,  translationibus  magnificum, 

8.  3.  12          compositione  elaboratum,  velut  institor  quidam 
eloquentiae  intuendum  et  psene  pertractandum  dabit. 

Simplicity  preferred  to  subtility  : 

Hsec  autem  brevior  et  vel  ideo  lucidior  multo  via  neque 
Travel,  discentem  per  ambages  fatigabit  nee  corpus  ora- 

3-  "•  23        tionis  in  parva  momenta  ducendo  consumet. 

Limitations  of  poetry,  owing  to  metrical  exigencies : 

Quod  alligata  ad  certam  pedum  necessitatem 
non  semper  uti  propriis  possit,  sed  depulsa  recta 
via  necessario  ad  eloquendi  quaedam  deverticula  confugiat. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  35 

II.     SIMILES 

In  regard  to  this  trope,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  great 
diversity  of  opinion  among  the  ancient  rhetoricians. 

By  some  it  (et'xwv)  was  treated  as  one  of  the  three  sub- 
divisions of  6^otG)(K<;  together  with  xapapoXfj  (comparison) 
and  TuapaBsty^a  (exemplum).  Cf.  Rhetores  Grczci,  Spengel, 
vol.  iii.,  p.  106  and  p.  200.  This  classification  Cicero  (De 
Inventione,  i.,  307)  follows  exactly.  Another  (Greek)  rhetor 
increases  the  number  of  these  subdivisions  to  six  (Spengel, 
iii.,  p.,  239). 

Still  another  does  not  differentiate  etxwv  from  xapa^oXi} 
Spengel,  i.,  419. 

TQ  Be  ecxtov  sari  piev  TQ  OCUTY]  Tfj  xapa^oXfj,  IvapyecTepov  Be  xotel  TOV 
Xoyov,  waTe  piY)  IJLOVOV  axouetv,  aXXa  xal  opav  Boxetv. 

Quintilian  has  a  still  different  classification  and  subjoins 
simile  to  icapapoX-q  which  latter  he  has  merged  into  the  general 
class  xapaBeiy^a  (exemplum). 

Primas    exemplo    vires    habet  similitude  prae-  Quint., 

cipueque  ilia   quae  ducitur  citra  ullam  transla-        5*  TI>  22 
tionum  mixturam  ex  rebus  paene  paribus. 

Pragclare    vero    ad    inferendam   rebus    lucem 
repartae   sunt   similitudines :    quarum  alias  sunt, 
quae  probationis  gratia  inter   argument  a   ponuntur,  aliae  ad 
exprimendam  rerum  imaginem  compositae. 

Cornificius  (Ad  Herennium,  iv.,  59)  disregards  these  cate- 
gories entirely  and  treats  similitudo  quite  independently, 
making  a  four-fold  division: 

(i)  Ea  sumitur  aut  ornandi  causa;  (2)  aut  probandi; 
(3)  aut  apertius  dicendi ;  (4)  aut  ante  oculos  ponendi. 

Et  quomodo  quattuor  de  causis  sumitur,  item  quattuor 
modis  dicitur :  per  contrarium,  per  negationem,  per  brevitatem> 
per  collationem. 

Following  this  treatment,  we  find : 

A.    ORNANDI  CAUSA  SUMITUR  (PER  CONTRARIUM) 
Quintilian  was    a   firm   believer   in   the    efficacy  of    class 


36  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

instruction  as  superior  to  individual  or  private  tutoring,  and 
among  the  many  arguments  put  forth  to  substantiate  this 
theory,  is  the  following  double  simile,  the  first  part  of  which 
belongs  to  the  first  category  (per  contrarium) ,  but  the  second 
part  to  the  fourth  category  (per  collationem) : 

Food  and  ^°n  emm  vox  ^a  praeceptoris  ut  ccena  minus 
Physical  pluribus  sufficit,  sed  ut  sol  universis  idem  lucis 
^°2rld»  calorisque  largitur. 

In  teaching  the  five  duties  of  an  orator,  viz. : 
inventio,  dispositio,  elocutio,  memoria,  pronuntiatio,  and  the 
different  views  respecting  them  as  expounded  by  Albutius, 
Cicero,  Dion,  Hermagoras,  and  Theodorus: 
Philosophy,  Neque  elementa  recte  quis  dixerit,  alioqui 
3-  3-  13  tan  turn  initia  erunt,  ut  mundi  vel  humor  vel 
ignis,  vel  materia  vel  corpora  insecabilia. 

B.     PROBANDI  CAUSA  (PER  NEGATIONEM) 

Cornificius'  example:  "Neque  equus  indomitus,  quamvis 
natura  compositus  sit,  idoneus  potest  esse  ad  eas  utilitates, 
quse  desideratur  ab  equo;  neque  homo  indoctus,  quamvis  sit 
ingeniosus  ad  virtutem  potest  per  venire. " 

In  the  preface  to  the  first  book,  Quintilian  outlining  the 
purpose  and  content  of  his  treatise,  gives  a  preliminary 
warning  that  rules  and  manuals  on  art  are  valueless  unless 
nature  assist  the  youthful  aspirant. 

Agriculture,  Quapropter  ei  cui  deerit  ingenium,  non  magis 
Prooem.,  26  ^^  scripta  sjnt  quam  de  agrorum  cultu  sterilibus 
.terris. 

To  prove  that  the  teacher  can  accomplish  little  for  the 
pupil,  without  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  latter : 

Sicut   frustra   sparseris   semina   nisi   ilia   prae- 
mollitus  foverit  sulcus,  ita  eloquentia  coalescere 
nequit  nisi  sociata  tradentis  accipentisque  concordia. 

In  the  interesting  discussion  as  to  which  contributes  the 
more  to  proficiency  in  oratory,  native  ability  or  instruction, 
Quintilian  claims  that  both  are  necessary,  but  if  one  of  the 
two  must  needs  be  lacking,  natural  talent  is  the  more  useful, 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  37 

yet  the  most  perfect  orator  owes  more  to  education  than  to 
nature.  To  prove  his  point,  he  draws  again  from  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil : 

Sicut    terrse    nullam    fertilitatem    habendi   nihil  optimus 
agricola    profuerit,    e    terra   uberi   utile    aliquid 
etiam  nullo  colente  nascetur;  at  in  solo  fecundo, 
plus  cultor  quam  ipsa  per  se  bonitas  soli  efficiet. 

The  two  schools  of  oratory,  the  one  giving  almost  exclusive 
attention  to  the  searching  after  brilliant  sayings,  the  other 
doffing  all  fine  writing  of  stylistic  purpose  like  a  garment, 
Quintilian  censures  equally.  To  him,  whose  motto  might 
have  been  \wf>kv  ayav  excess  of  lumina  in  an  oration  defeated 
its  own  purpose: 

Ut  in  satis  omnibus  fructibusque  arborum 
nihil  ad  justam  magnitudinem  adolescere  potest, 
quod  loco,  in  quern  crescat,  caret. 

To  prove  the  importance  of  the  second  duty  of  the  orator: 
' '  dispositio "  (the  orderly  arrangement  of  the  material  of  a 
theme  acquired  by  "Inventio") : 

Ut  opera  exstruentibus  satis  non  est,  saxa  atque  materiam  et 
cetera  asdificanti  utilia  congerere,  nisi  disponendis  eis  col- 
locandisque  artificum  manus  adhibeatur:  sic  in  Architecture, 
dicendo  quamlibet  abundansrerumcopiacumulum  7-  Prooem.,  i 
tan  turn  habeat  atque  congestum,  nisi  illas  eadem  dispositio 
in  ordinem  digestas  atque  inter  se  commissas  devinxerit. 

In  teaching  the  respective  values  to  an  orator  of  the  three 
divisions  of  philosophy:  natural,  moral,  and  dialectic,  of  the 
last  mentioned,  he  says  that  though  it  is  extremely  helpful 
in  definitions  and  in  unravelling  ambiguities,  yet  too  great 
absorption  in  this  branch  of  philosophy  will  prevent  the  orator 
from  fulfilling  gracefully  his  task,  namely,  to  instruct,  to  move, 
and  to  delight  his  audience. 

Itaque  reperias  quosdam  in  disputando  mire  callidos,  cum 
ab  ilia  cavillatione  discesserint,  non  magis  Biology, 
sufficere  in  aliquo  graviore  actu  quam  parvo  I2-  2-  J4 
quaedam  animalia,  quae  in  angustiis  mobilia  campo  de- 
prehenduntur. 

To  instruct  the  future  orator  in  the  correct  use  of  the  trope 


38  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

now  under  discussion  (simile),  he  cites  as  a  good  example 
Cicero,  Pro  Cluentio,  53: 

Body,  "Ut  corpora  nostra  sine  mente  ita  ci vitas  sine 

5.  ii.  25  lege  sin's  partibus,  ut  nervis  ac  sanguine  et  mem- 
bris,  uti  non  potest. " 

Again  enforcing  his  statement  that  two   many  sententise 
are  not  desirable  in  an  oration : 
Dress,  Ut   affert  lumen   clavus   purpuras  in   loco   in- 

Q         tf         ^Q 

sertus:    ita    certe    neminem    deceat    intertexta 
pluribus  notis  vestis. 

To  prove  the  importance  of  knowing  just  from  what  topics 
arguments  may  be  drawn : 

Nam,  ut  in  terra  non  omni  generantur.omnia,  nee  avem  aut 
feram  reperias  uti  quseque  nasci  aut  morari  soleat  ignarus, 
Nature,  et  piscium  quoque  genera  alia  planis  gaudent 

5.  10.  21  a}-a  saxosjs>  regionibus  etiam  litoribusque  dis- 
creta  sunt,  ita  non  argumentum  undique  venit  ideoque  non 
passim  quserendum  est. 

One  of  the  proofs  presented,  that  an  orator  must  be  a  good 
man,  is  that  a  mind  tainted  with  evil  and  troubled  by  cares 
and  anxieties,  by  repentance  or  the  expectation  of  punishment, 
cannot  at  the  same  time  give  proper  attention  to  letters: 

Quis  inter  haec  litteris  aut  nulli  bonse  arti  locus?  Non 
I2  x  hercule  magis  quam  frugibus  in  terra  sentibus 

ac  rubis  occupata. 

As  a  good  example  of  a  simile  drawn  from  the  proceedings 
of  men,  Quintilian  gives  the  following : 

Navigation,  Ut  remiges  sine  gubernatore  sic  milites  sine 
5.  ii.  26  imperatore  nihil  valere. 

To  prove  that  all  previous  study  has  been  of  little  avail, 
if  it  has  not  equipped  the  orator  with  the  ability  to  speak 
extemporaneously,  and  to  be  ready  for  any  emergency: 

Vix  enim  bonae  fidei  viro  convenit  auxilium  in  publicum 
polliceri,    quod    praesentissimis    quibusque    peri- 
culis  desit;  ut  intrare  portum  navis  nisi  lenibus 
ventis  vecta  non  possit. 

To  show  that  the  utmost  care  should  be  taken  with  the 
training  of  the  child  in  its  earliest  years  as  it  is  only  the  rare 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  39 

exception  that  is  incapable  of  being  taught  if  proper  care  be 
exercised : 

Hebetes  vero  et  indocilis  non  magis  secundum  naturam 
homines  eduntur  quam  prodigiosa  corpora  et  Phenomena, 
monstris  insignia,  sed  hi  pauci  admodum.  i.  i.  a 

One  of  the  three  specific  duties  of  an  orator  is  to  "move" 
his  audience ;  that  he  cannot  do  successfully  unless  he  himself 
is  stirred  and  filled  with  the  emotions  he  wishes  to  arouse: 

Nee  incendit  nisi  ignis,  nee  madescimus  nisi  Physical 
humore,  nee  res  ulla  dat  alteri  colorem,  quern  non  World, 

ipsa  habet.  6-  2*  *8 

To  show  that  the  brilliant  passages  so  much  sought  after 
in  his  age  owe  their  effect  to  the  dullness  of  their  setting: 

Quare,  licet  hasc  et  nitere  et  aliquatenus  exstare  videantur, 
tamen  et  lumina  ilia  non  flammae  sed  scintillis 

O«     ^«     2O 

inter   fumum   emicantibus   similia   dixeris;   quae 

ne  apparent  quidem,  ubi  tota  lucet  oratio,  ut  in  sole  sidera 

ipsa  desinunt  cerni. 

To  teach  that  no  amount  of  care  bestowed  upon  "inventio" 
will  be  of  any  value  unless  equal  attention  be  given  to  "dis- 
positio": 

Neque  enim  quamquam  fusis  omnibus  membris  statua  sit, 
nisi  collocetur,  et  si  quam  in  corporibus  nostris  statuary, 
aliorumve  animalium  partem  permutes  et  trans-  7-  Procem.,  2, 
feras,  licet  habeat  eadem  omnia  prodigium  sit 
tamen.  Et  artus  etiam  leviter  loco  moti  perdunt  quo  vigue- 
runt,  usum,  et  turbati  exercitus  sibi  ipsi  sunt  impedimento. 

In  tracing  the  origin  of  oratory,  to  prove  that  it  did 
not  arise  with  the  first  attempt  of  man  to  defend  Military 
himself,  but  rather  that  it  started  with  an  Tactics 

accusation : 

Cum  praesertim  accusatio  praecedat  defensionem;  nisi  quis 
dicet,  etiam  gladium  fabricatum  ab  eo  prius,  qui  Weapons, 
ferrum  in  tutelam  sui  quam  qui  in  perniciem  3-  2.  2 

alterius  compararit. 

C.    APERTIUS  DICENDI  (PER  BREVITATEM) 
Cornificius'  example:    "In  amicitia  gerenda  sicut  in  certa- 


40  QVINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

mine  currendi,  non  ita  convenit  exerceri,  ut  quoad  necesse  sit, 
venire  possis  sed  ut  productus  studio  et  viribus  ultra  facile 
procurras." 

In  his  preface,  Quintilian  explains  that  he  intends  to  com- 
mence at  the  very  beginning  of  the  science  of  education,  con- 
trary to  the  practice  adopted  by  the  majority  of  writers 
on  subjects  of  this  nature,  who  ignore  the  work  of  the  gram- 
maticus  and  deal  exclusively  with  that  of  the  rhetor,  thinking 
that  the  elementary  work  is  necessary  yet  it  affords  too  little 
opportunity  for  the  display  of  their  talents: 
Architecture,  Ut  operum  fastigia  spectantur,  latent  fun- 
i.Procem.,4  damenta. 

In  teaching  the  three  parts  of  language,  the  period 
(xsptoBoq,  circuitus),  the  member  (xwXov,  membrum),  the 
comma  (xo^a,  incision),  to  illustrate  the  relative  importance 
of  the  member: 

Membrum,  "O  callidos  homines,"  perfectum  est  sed  remo- 
Body,  turn  a  ceteris,  vim  non  habet,  ut  per  se,  manus, 

9.  4.  123        et  pes  e£  caput. 

The  orator  should  aim  to  excel  in  all  accomplishments 
pertaining  to  his  art. 

Music,  Nam  sicut  cithara  ita  oratio  perfecta  non  est 

2.  8.  15  njsi  ab  imo  a(j  summum  omnibus  intenta  nervis 
consentiat. 

To  confute  the  impression  that  the  uneducated  orator 
speaks  the  more  forcefully,  and  that  education  detracts: 

Nihilominus  confitendum  est  etiam  detrahere  doctrinam 
Wine,  'aliquid,  ut  limam  rudibus  et  cotes  hebetibus 

2.  12.  8  et  vino  vetustatem,  sed  vitia  detrahit  atque  eo 
solo  minus  est,  quod  litterae  perpolierunt,  quomelius. 

To  illustrate  the  relative  difficulties  of  accusatio  and 
def  ensio : 

Wounds,  Quamquam  ut,  quod  sentio,  semel  finiam,  tanto 

5-  13-  3  est  accusare  quam  defendere,  quanto  facere 
quam  sanare  vulnera  facilius. 

D.  ANTE  OCULOS  PONENDI  NEGOTII  CAUSA  (PER  COLLATIONEM) 
To  make  it  perfectly  apparent  that  the  early  years  of  a 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  41 

child  are  not  to  be  wasted  but  that  the  memory  should  be 
stored  with  the  elements  of  things  that  will  prove  helpful 
in  later  years : 

Atque  eo  magis,  quod  minora  etiam  facilius  minores  per- 
cipiunt,  et  ut  corpora  ad  quosdam  membrorum  Anatomy, 
plexus  formari  nisi  tenera  non  possunt:  sic  *•  *•  22 
animos  quoque  ad  pleraque  duriores  robur  ipsum  facit. 

With  regard  to  dispositio,  to  make  more  clear  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  logical  arrangement  of  the  points  in  an 
oration : 

Huius    ipsius    particular    aliquod    initium    fecerit    deinde 
proxima  subnectens  struxerit  orationem  ut  pars 
hominis    est    manus,    eius    digiti,    illorum    quo- 
que articuli. 

To  show  the  need  of  the  employment,  at  times,  of  the  trope, 
hyperbaton  (the  violent  displacement  of  words) : 

Differenda  igitur  quasdam  et  prsesumenda,  atque  ut  in 
structuris  lapidum  impolitorum  loco,  quo  con-  Architecture, 
venit,  quodque  ponendum.  8-  6-  63 

To  illustrate  the  advantage  to  the  orator  of  reading  poetry 
for  relaxation  and  refreshment: 

Ne  carmine  quidem  ludere  contrarium  f uerit ;  sicut  athletae, 
remissa  quibusdam  temporibus  ciborum  atque  Athletics, 
exercitationum  certa  necessitate,  otio  et  iucun-  I0'  5-  J6 
dioribus  eduliis  reficiuntur. 

The  element  of  -juaOo?  should  be  used  sparingly,  and  with 
great  care: 

Nam  in  parvis  quidem  litibus  has  tragcedias  movere  tale 
est,  quasi  si  personam  Herculis  et  cothurnos  Drama, 

aptare  infantibus  velis.  6.  i.  36 

Individuality  to  be  encouraged  and  fostered : 

Nam  quid  ilia  miserius  lege  velut  prseformatas  infantibus 
litteras  persequentium,  et  ut  Graeci  dicere  Dress, 

solent,  quern  mater  amictum  dedit,  sollicite  5»  J4-  3* 
custodientium. 

To  bring  vividly  before  the  eye  the  incongruities  re- 
sulting from  a  disregard  of  the  maxim  to  speak  as  befits  the 
occasion : 


42  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Ut    monilibus    et    margaritis   ac   veste   longa,    quse    sunt 
H.  !.  3          ornament  a    feminarum,    deformentur    viri;    nee 
habitus  triumphalis,  quo  nihil  excogitari  potest 
augustius,  feminas  deceat. 

After  defining  the  extensive  scope  of  oratory,  which  has 
been  made  by  Aristotle  to  embrace  the  three  classes,  judicial, 
deliberative,  and  demonstrative,  he  takes  exception  to  the 
expression  (as  used  by  some)  of  "instrument  of  oratory,"  as 
a  misnomer,  since  it  is  the  artifex  and  not  the  art  that  needs 
the  tool  (in  the  case  of  the  orator,  a  well-stored  mind,  a  good 
memory,  graceful  delivery). 

Engraving,  Neque  enim  scientia  desiderat  instrumentum ; 
2.  21.24  sed  ille  artifex,  ut  cselator  cselum  et  pictor 
penicilla. 

,  Reading,  rereading,  and  reflection  upon  the  writings  of  the 
best  authors,  necessary  to  strengthen  the  judgment,  taste, 
and  style  of  the  youthful  orator: 

Repetamus  autem  et  tractemus,  et  cibos  mansos  ac  prope 
Food,  liquefactos  demittimus,  quo  facilius  digerantur: 

TO.  i.  19  ^a  iectj0  non  cru(ja  sed  mult  a  iteratione  mollita 
et  velut  confecta  memorias  imitationique  tradatur. 

Quintilian,  in  his  scheme  of  education,  even  gives  instruction 
as  to  the  choice  of  the  nurse,  in  whose  presence,  the  young 
child  will  naturally  spend  much  of  his  time,  and  whose  lan- 
guage he  will,  of  necessity,  imitate: 

Et  natura  tenacissimi  sumus  eorum,  quse  rudibus  annis 
Fuller's  Art,  percepimus,  ut  sapor,  quo  nova  imbuas,  durat, 
*•  *•  5  nee,  lanarum  colores,  quibus  simplex  ille  candor 

mutatus  est,  elui  possunt. 

Et  hssc  ipsa  magis  pertinaciter  haerent,  quo  deteriora 
sunt. 

To  illustrate  the  advantage  to  beginners  of  diligent  and 
careful  use  of  the  pen: 

Paulatim  res  facilius  se  ostendunt,  verba  respondebunt, 
Home,  compositio  prosequetur,  cuncta  denique  ut  in 

10.  3.  10         familia  bene  instituta  in  officio  erunt. 

In  giving  instruction  in  the  use  of  similes : 

Ut,  si  animum  dicas  excolendum,  similitudine  utaris  terra 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  43 

quae  neglecta  spinas  ac  dumos,  culta  frustus  creat;  aut 
si  ad  cur  am  rei  publicse  horteris,  ostendas,  Husbandry, 
apes  etiam  formicasque,  non  modo  muta  sed  5-  "•  24 
etiam  parva  animalia,  in  commune  tamen  laborare. 

Instead  of  having  the  exordium  followed  immediately  by 
the  narratio,  at  times,  it  is  well  to  answer  certain  charges 
first,  especially, 

Quotiens  non  repellendum  tantum  erit  crimen  sed  etiam 
transfer endum,  ut  prius  his  defensis  velut  initium  Military 
sit  alium  culpandi  narratio,  ut  in  armorum  ratione  Tactics, 

antiquior  cavendi  quam  ictum  inferendi  causa  est. 

Quintilian  records  the  psychological  observation  that  the 
pen  rejoices  in  seclusion  and  shrinks  from  intruders,  whereas 
in  extemporaneous  speaking  enthusiasm  is  kindled  by  a  large 
audience : 

ut  miles  concentu  signorum. 

The  orator  should  acquaint  himself  with  the 
other  side  of  the  case: 

Debent    ergo    oratori   sic    esse    adversariorum 
nota  consilia  ut  hostium  imperatori. 

Quintilian  does  not  agree  with  those  who  say  that  it  is  a 
waste  of  time  and  labor  to  attempt  to  teach  the  very  young: 

Nam  contra  plures  reperias  et  faciles  in  excogitando  et  ad 
discendum  prompt os.  Quippe  id  est  homini  naturale ;  acsicut 
aves  ad  volatum,  equi  ad  cursum,  ad  saevitium  Nature, 

ferse  gignuntur:    ita   no  bis    propria    est    mentis  i.  1. 1 

agitatio  atque  sollertia  unde  origo  animi  caelestis  creditur. 

In  his  valuable  summary  of  the  classes  of  literature,  he 
pays  tribute  to  the  "father  of  Roman  poetry"  : 

Ennium  sicut  sacros  vetustate  lucos  adoremus,  in  quibus 
grandia  et  antiqua  robora  iam  non  tantam  habent  gg 

speciem  quant  am  religionem. 

Skill  in  speaking  extemporaneously  absolutely  necessary 
to  an  orator,  for  often  the  entire  case  is  suddenly  changed: 

Atque    ut    gubernatori    ad    incursus    tempes-     Navigation 
tatum   sic  agenti  ad  varietatem  causarum  ratio  Jp-  7-  3 

mutanda  est. 

Quintilian  avails  himself  of  every  opportunity  offered  to 


44  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

censure    the   extravagant  use   of  lumina  so  characteristic  of 
Silver  Latinity : 

Sententiae  quoque  ipsae  quas  solas  petunt,  magis  eminent, 
Physical  cum  omma  circa  illas  sordida  et  abiecta  sunt, 
World,  ut  lumina  non  inter  umbras  quemadmodum 

2.  12.  7  Cicero  dicit  sed  plane  in  tenebris  clariora  sunt. 

If  the  requisite  amount  of  study  has  been  expended,  facility 
of  expression  must  needs  follow: 

Si  praeparata  vis  dicendi  fuerit :  erunt  in  officio  sic  ut  non  re- 
8  p  quisita  respondere  sed  ut  semper  sensibus  inhaerere 

videantur  atque  eos  ut  umbra  corpus  sequi. 

Perspicuity  necessary  to  the  pleader,  so  that  too  great  a 
strain  may  not  be  put  upon  the  judge's  attention. 
g  Nisi   tarn   clara  fuerint,   quas    dicemus,   ut  in 

animum    eius    oratio,  ut    sol  in   oculos,  etiamsi 
in  earn  non  intendatur,  incurrat. 

To  teach  that  perspicuity  is  one  of  the  first  requisites  of  a 
good  style : 

Nam  tumidos  et  corruptos  et  tinnulos  et  quocumque  alio 
cacozeliae  genere  peccantes  certum  habeo  non  virium  sed 
Physiology,  infirmitatis  vitio  laborare,  ut  corpora  non  robore, 
2'  3-  9  sed  valetudine  inflantur,  et  recto  itinere  lassi 

plerumque  devertunt. 

To  illustrate  the  principle  of  education  that  instruction 
should  be  made  simple  and  interesting  for  the  young. 

Quin    ipsis    quoque    doctoribus  hoc  esse   curae  velim,   ut 

teneras    adhuc    mentes    nutricum    mollius    alant    et    satiari 

velut  quodam  iucundioris  disciplinae    lacte  pati- 

antur,   erit  illud   plenius   interim   corpus,    quod 

mox  adult  a  aestas  adstringat. 

Instruction  given  should  not  transcend  the  powers  of  the 
pupil,  either  in  content  or  extent. 

Nam  ut  vascula  oris  angusti  superfusam  humoris  copiam 
Psychology,  respuunt,  sensim  autem  influentibus  vel  etiam 
i.  2.  28  instillatis  complentur,  sic  animi  puerorum  quan- 

tum excipere  possint  videndum  est. 

Again  to  prove  that  instruction  should  be  adapted  to  con- 
form to  the  mental  equipment  of  the  pupil : 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  45 

Hunc   disertum   prseceptorem   prudentem   quoque   et   non 
ignarum  docendi  esse  opertebit  summittentem  se  ad  men- 
suram     discentis,     ut    velocissimus     quoque,     si 
forte   iter   cum   parvulo   faciat,    det   manum   et  2- 3- 7 

gradum  suum  minuat,  nee  procedat  ultra  quam  comes  possit. 

The  orator  should  strive,  in  his  delivery,  to  maintain  both 
evenness  and  variation: 

Ars  porro  variandi  cum  gratiam  praebet  ac  renovat  aures, 
turn  dicentem  ipsa  laboris    mutatione  reficit,  ut 
standi,   ambulandi,   sedendi;  iacendi   vices   sunt 
nihilque  eorum  pati  unum  diu  possumus. 

At  times,  it  will  be  well  to  take  up  the  arguments  presented 
by  the  opposite  side  singly  and  refute  them  one  by  one  instead 
of  en  masse: 

Ut,  si  vel  maxima  flumina  in  rivos  diducantur,  Rivers, 

qualibet   transitum   praebent.  5-  13-  13 

To  refute  those  who  claim  that  the  primitive  style  of  ex- 
pression, devoid  of  all  art,  is  the  more  natural  and  forceful: 

Ceterum  quanto  vehementior  fluminum  cursus  est  prono 

alveo  ac  nullas  moras  obiciente  quam  inter  ob- 

o.  4.  7 
stantia  saxa  fractis  aquis  ac  reluctantibus,  tanto, 

qua?  conexa  est  et  totis  viribus  fluit,  fragosa  atque  interrupta 
melior  oratio. 

Dialectics  must  not  figure  too  prominently  in  an  oration 
which  needs  rather  vim,  animation,  and  charm  to  interest, 
move,  and  delight  the  hearer: 

Ut  vis  amnium  maior  est  altis  ripis  multoque 
gurgitis  tractu-  fluentium  quam  tenuis  aquae  et 
obiecta  lapillorum  resultantis. 

After  explaining  the  three  kinds  of  style,  subtile  (ta^vov), 
grande  atque  robustum  (aSpdv),  medium,  or  floridum 
(av0Y]p6v),  Quintilian,  as  usual,  preferring  the  mediocritas 
aurea,  gives  most  praise  to  the  middle  style  : 

Medium  hie  modus   et  translationibus  crebrior,  et  figuris 
erit   iucundior,  egressionibus    amcenus,  composi-        J2  JQ  6o 
tione  aptus,   sententiis    dulcis,    lenior   tamen  ut 
amnis    lucidus    quidem,   sed    virentibus   utrimque   ripis   in- 
ttmbratus  (cf.  Plato's  Phaedrus  and  Cicero,  De  Oratore,  1. 29). 


46  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

In  the  narratio  the  golden  mean  must  be  preserved  as 
regards  length  and  it  must  be  made  as  interesting  as  possible  : 

Nam  et  fallit  voluptas  et  minus  longa  quae  delectant 
Roads,  videntur,  ut  amoenum  ac  molle  iter,  etiamsi 

4.  2.  46  est  Spatii  amplioris,  minus  fatigat  quam  durum 

aridumque  compendium. 

2  In  some  cases  the  partitio  is  effectual  in  adding 

clearness  and  pleasure  to  the  oration. 

Reficit  quoque  audientem  certo  singularum  partium  fine, 
non  aliter,  quam  facientibus  iter  multum  detrahunt  fatiga- 
tionis  notata  in  inscriptis  lapidibus  spatia. 

At  other  times,  it  is  not  expedient  to  set  forth  the  several 
topics  to  be  discussed,  beforehand: 

Nam  est  non  numquam  dura  propositio,  quam  iudex  si 
Surgery,  providit  non  aliter  prasformidat,  quam  qui 
4-  5'  5  ferrum  medici  prius  quam  curetur  aspexit. 

To  illustrate  the  principle  of  education  :  to  proceed  step  by 
step  from  the  known  to  the  unknown  : 

Vix  enim  se  prima  element  a  ad  spem  tollere  effingendae,  quam 
Viticulture,  summam  put  ant,  eloquentiae  audebunt:  proxima 
i.  2.  26  amplectuntur  magis,  ut  vites  arboribus  applicitae 

inferiores  prius  apprehendendo  ramos  in  cacumina  evadunt. 

There  can  be  given  no  definite  rule  for  the  treatment  of  the 
narratio  and  the  handling  of  proofs  for  the  defense  : 

Ut  erit  volnus,  ita  vel  curandum  protinus,  vel  si  curatio 
Wounds,         differri  potest,  interim  deligandum. 
4.  2.  84  jn   trying  to  eradicate  the  taste  for  inordinate 

display  in  composition  : 

Zoology,  Lucent   haec   citra  solem,  ut   quaedam  exigua 

12.  10.  76       animalia  igniculi  videntur  in  tenebris. 

In  all  educational  steps,  follow  Nature  : 

Nam    ut   aqua    piscibus,    ut   sicca    terrenis,    circumfusus 
nobis  spiritus  volucribus  convenit  ita  certe  facilius 
esse^  oportebat  secundum  naturam  quam  contra 
earn  vivere. 


III.     COMPARISONS  OR  PARALLELS 
Quintilian  (5.  n.  i)  makes  very  little  difference  between 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  47 

similes  and  comparisons:  nostri  fere  similitudinem  vocare 
maluerunt,  quod  ab  illis  TuapagoXi}  dicitur:  again  (5.  u.  23), 
nam  xapa(3o)oq,  quam  Cicero  collationem  vocat,  longius 
res  quas  comparentur  repetere  volet,  neque  hominum  modo 
inter  se  opera  similia  spectantur  sed  et  a  mutis  atque  etiam 
inanimis  interim  comparatio  huiusmodi  ducitur. 

As  an  example  of  this  trope  he  cites :  cuius  est  generis  ilhid 
Augusti,  qui  militi  libellum  timide  porrigenti,  "Noli,"  inquit, 
"tarn  quam  assem  elephanto  des." 

The  categories  of  the  ancient  rhetoricians  differ  somewhat 
on  this  point:  Aristotle,  considering  it  a  species  of  exemplum 
(xapaBsiy^a),  Victorinus,  Beda,  and  others  treat  it  as  one 
of  the  three  subdivisions  of  simile:  sixwv,  xapa^oXiq,  xapdBeiYjjia. 
This  classification  is  the  one  adopted  by  Cicero  in  his  torso 
"De  Inventione." 

Following  Quintilian  (8.  3.  77),  In  omni  autem  parabole  aut 
(i)  praecedit  similitudo,  res  sequitur,  aut  (2)  praecedit  res 
et  similitudo  sequitur,  (3)  sed  interim  libera  et  separata  est, 
(4)  interim  quod  longe  optimum  est,  cum  re,  cuius  est  imago, 
connectitur,  collatione  invicem  respondente,  quod  facit 
redditio  contraria,  qua  antapodosis  dicitur,  we  find: 

A.  PR^CEDIT  SIMILITUDO,  RES  SEQUITUR 

(a)  Hominum  inter  se  opera  similia  spectantur. 

To  assist  him  in  inculcating  the  principle  that  virility  of 
expression  must  be  the  aim  of  the  orator : 

An  vero  statuarum  artifices  pictoresque  clarissimi,  cum 
corpora  quam  speciosissima  fingendo  pingendoque  efficere 
cuperent,  numquam  in  hunc  ceciderunt  erro-  Art, 

rem,  ut  Bagoam  aut  Megabyzum  aliquem  in  5-  12- 2I 
exemplum  operis  sumerent  sibi,  sed  Doryphoron  ilium  aptum 
vel  militias  vel  palaestrae,  aliorum  quoque  iuvenum  belli- 
cosorum  et  athletarum  corpora  decora  vere  existimarunt : 
nos,  qui  oratorem  studemus  effingere,  non  arma,  sed  tympana 
eloquentiae  demus? 

In  accordance  with  the  plan  delineated  in  the  Procemium 
of  Book  I.,  in  which  he  proposed  to  treat,  in  the  first  book, 
of  the  matters  preceding  the  work  of  the  rhetor,  in  the  second, 


48  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

the  work  of  the  rhetor  (the  elements  of  rhetoric),  in  the  third, 
fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh,  inventio  and  dispositio, 
in  the  eighth,  ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh,  style,  memory, 
and  delivery,  and  in  the  twelfth,  the  professional  lawyer, — 
here,  in  the  opening  of  the  tenth  book,  he  has  reached  that 
point  in  his  treatise  where  he  feels  that  the  orator  has  been 
fully  instructed,  but  now  must  be  taught  how  to  apply  this 
knowledge  to  the  best  advantage : 

Nos  non,  quomodo  sit  instituendus  orator,  hoc  loco  dicimus 
(nam  id  quidem  aut  satis  aut  certe  uti  potuimus  dictus  est) 
Athletics,  sed  athleta,  qui  omnes  iam  perdidicerit  a  prae- 
ceptare  numeros,  quo  genere  exercitationis  ad 
certamina  prseparandus  sit;  igitur  eum,  qui  res  invenire  et 
disponere  sciet,  verba  quoque  et  eligendi  et  conlocandi  ra- 
tionem  perceperit,  instruamus,  qua  ratione  quod  didicerit 
facere  quam  op  time,  quam  facillime  possit. 

To  prove  that  the  art  of  oratory  arose  from  observation. 

Homines  enim  sicut  in  medicina,  cum  viderent  alia  salubria 
alia  insalubria,  ex  observatione  eorum  effecerunt  artem;  ita 
Medicine,  cum  in  dicendo  alia  utilia,  alia  inutilia  depre- 
3* 2>  3  henderent,  notarunt  ea  ad  imitandum  vitan- 

dumque,  et  quasdam  secundum  rationem  eorum  adiecerunt 
ipsi  quoque:  haec  confirmata  sunt  usu,  turn,  quae  sciebat 
quisque  docuit. 

This  parallel  might  be  placed  equally  well  in  the  fourth 
category  as  the  balance  or  correspondence  (avTaxoBoatc;)  is 
clearly  perceptible. 

To  prove  that  the  orator  must  use  the  utmost  caution 
and  keenness  in  cross-examining  his  opponent : 

Nam  ut  medicis  non  apparentia  modo  vitia  curanda  sunt, 
sed  etiam  invenienda  quae  latent  saepe  ipsis  ea, 
qui  sanandi  sunt,  occulentibus,  ita  advocatus 
plura,  quam  ostenduntur  aspiciat. 

To  illustrate  the  necessity  of  earnestness  of  purpose  on  the 
part  of  the  orator,  who  is  not  to  be  led  away  by  the  desire  of 
praise : 

Nam  ut  gerentibus  bella  non  semper  exercitus  per  plana 
et  amcena  ducendus  est,  sed  adeundi  plerumque  asperi  col- 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  49 

les,     expugnandae     civitates     quamlibet    praecisis    impositae 
rupibus   aut   operum   mole    difficiles,    ita    oratio          Military 
gaudebit  quidem  occasione  laetius  decurrendi  et          Tactics, 
sequo   congressa   campo   tctas   vires    populariter 
explicabit. 

To  illustrate  the  relative  value  of  dialectics  to  an  orator : 
Ut   palaestrici   doctores   illos,    quos   numeros   vocant,  non 
idcirco  discentibus  tradunt,  ut  iis  omnibus  ii  qui  didicerint 
in  ipso  luctandi  certamine  utantur,  sed  ut  subsit        Palaestra, 
copia  ilia,  ex  qua  unum  aut  alterum,  cuius  se 
occasio   dederit,   efficiant  ita  haec  pars  dialectica  est  utilis 
saepe  et  finitionibus,  etc. 

(b)  Parallel  drawn  from  animals  without  speech  (a  mutis). 
To  prove  the  need  of  a  knowledge  of  many  subjects  to  form 

the  perfect  orator : 

Muta  animalia  mellis  ilium  inimitabilem  humanas  ra- 
tioni  saporem  vario  florum  ac  sucorum  genere  Bees, 

perficiunt:    nos   mirabimur,   si   oratio,  qua  nihil  1.10.7 

praestantius  homini  dedit  providentia,  pluribus  artibus 
egeat  ? 

(c)  Parallels  drawn  from  inanimate  objects  (ab  inanimis). 
To  illustrate  the  part  that  figurative  language  plays  in  an 

oration : 

Namque  ut  in  armorum  certamine  adversos  ictus  et 
rectas  ac  simplices  manus  cum  videre  turn  etiam  cavere  ac 
propulsare  facile  est,  aversae  tectaeque  minus  Fencing, 
sunt  observabiles,  et  aliud  ostendisse,  quam  9*  x* 20 

petas,  artis  est:  sic  oratio  quas  astu  caret,  pondere  modo  et 
impulsu  proeliatur.  Simulanti  variantique  conatus  in  latera 
atque  in  terga  incurrere  datur  et  arma  avocare  et  velut  nutu 
fallere. 

To  refute  those  who  found  fault  with  Cicero's  style  (notably 
Brutus),  who  claimed  that  the  pure  so-called  Attic  oratory 
was  more  natural  and  therefore  preferable: 

Cur  vites  coercemus  manu?  cur  eas  fodimus?  rubos  arvis 
excidimus?  terra  et  hos  generat;  mansuefacimus  Husbandry, 
animalia  indomita  nascuntur. 

Verum  id  est  maxime  naturale,  quod  fieri  natura  optime 


50  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

patitur.  Fortius  vero  quid  incompositum  potest  esse  quam 
vinctum  et  bene  collocatum? 

To  answer  the  question  whether  oratory  is  an  art? 

Nam  qui  est  adeo  non  ab  eruditione  modo  sed  a  sensu 
remotus  hominis,  ut  fabricandi  quidem  et  texendi  et  e  luto 
Manufactur-  vasa  ducendi  artem  putet  rhetoricen  autem  maxi- 
ing,  2. 17. 3  mum  ac  pulcherrimum  opus  in  tarn  sublime 
fastigium  existimet  sine  arte  venisse? 

To  illustrate  the  orator's  need  of  extensive  knowledge : 

Antidotos  quidem  atque  alia,  quae  oculis  aut  vulneribus 
medentur,  ex  multis  atque  interim  contrariis  quoque  inter 
Medicine,  se  effectibus  componi  videmus,  quorum  ex 

1.  10.  6  diversis   fit   una  ilia  mixtura,  quae  nulli  eorum 
similis  est,  quibus   const  at,  sed  proprias  vires   ex  omnibus 
sumit. 

In  an  oration,  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  proper  appli- 
cation of  the  rules  of  rhythm  and  to  the  appropriate  modula- 
tion of  the  voice : 

In  certaminibus  sacris  non  eadem  ratione  concitant  animos 
ac  remittunt;  non  eosdem  modos  adhibent,  cum  bellicum 
Music,  est  canendum  et  cum  posito  genu  supplican- 

9.  4.  ii  dum  est;  nee  idem  signorum  concentus  est  pro- 

cedente  ad  prcelium  exercitu,  idem  receptui  carmen.  Quodsi 
numeris  ac  modis  inest  quaedam  tacita  vis:  in  oratione 
vehementissima . 

B.    RES  PR^CEDIT,  SIMILITUDO  SEQUITUR 

(a)  Parallels  drawn  from  the  proceedings  of  man. 

In  censuring  jxaTaioTe^vta,  the  idle  imitation  of  art,  he  uses, 
to  illustrate  his  point,  what  doubtless  the  ancient  grammarians 
would  have  called  xocpaSsiypia  (exemplum). 

Qualis  illius  fuit,  qui  grana  ciceris  ex  spatio  distanti 
Archery,  missa  in  acum  continue  et  sine  frustratione  in- 

2.  20.  3  serebat,  quern  cum  spectasset  Alexander  donasse 
dicitur    eiusdem    leguminis  modio,   quod  quidem  prasmium 
fuit  illo  opere  dignissimum. 

To  illustrate  how  the  teacher  should  study  the  various  minds 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  51 

of  his  pupils   and  develop   them  in  accordance  with   their 
natural  proclivities: 

Sic  discernet  haec  dicendi  magister,  quomodo  palaestricus 
ille  cursorem  faciet  aut  pugilem  aut  lucta-  Athletics, 
torem  aliudve  quid  ex  his,  quae  sunt  sacrorum  2-  8-  7 

certaminum.     (Olympian,  Isthmian,  and  Delphian.) 

Yet  instruction  should  not  be  narrow  and  limited  exclu- 
sively to  their  particular  abilities:  but  their  weak  points 
with  due  care  may  be  made  equal  to  their  strong  ones : 

Nam  licet  sit  aliquam  in  partem  pronior  ut  necesse  est, 
ceteris  tamen  non  repugnabit,  atque  ea  cura  paria  faciet 
iis  in  quibus  eminebat,  sicut  ille  exercendi  cor-  g 

pora    peritus    non    si    docendum    pancratiasten 
pugno  ferire  vel  calce  tantum  aut  nexus  modo  atque  in  his 
certos  aliquos  docebit,  sed  omnia  quae  eius  certaminis. 

Among  the  instructions  given  for  composition,  Quintilian 
advises  rereading  the  last  paragraph  written,  before  jotting 
down  the  new  thought. 

Quod  in  certamine  saliendi  fieri  videmus,  ut  conatum 
longius  petant,  et  ad  illud  quo  contenditur,  Athletics, 
spatium  cursu  ferantur;  utque  in  iaculando  10.3.6 

bracchia  reducimus  et  expulsuri  tela  nervos  retro  tendimus. 

Quintilian  is  very  emphatic  in  his  insistence  upon  the  impor- 
tance of  training  the  memory  (the  fourth  duty  of  an  orator: 
inventio,  dispositio,  elocutio,  memoria,  and  pronuntiatio) ,  by 
daily  learning  by  heart  passages  from  the  best  authors,  gradu- 
ally increasing  in  length.  The  passages  set  for  practice  should 
be  more  difficult  than  any  they  might  use  in  actual  pleading : 

Ut  athletae  ponderibus  plumbeis  assuefaciunt  manus, 
quibus  vacuis  et  nudis,  in  certamine  utendum  n  2  42 
est. 

Citing  the  objection  of  the  self-styled  Atticists,  to  those 
who  have  added  something  of  eloquence  to  the  natural  style 
of  Cato  and  the  Gracchi : 

Sicut    athletarum    corpora,  etiamsi  validiora  fiant  exerci- 
tatione  et  lege  quadam  ciborum  non  tamen  esse        J2  JQ 
naturalia  atque  ab  ilia  specie,  quas  sit  concessa 
hominibus,  abhor rere. 


52  QUINTILIAWS  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Quintilian,  contrary  to  Rousseau,  would  have  the  child 
learn  in  his  tender  years  as  much  as  possible  of  the  mechani- 
cal elements  of  studies,  so  necessary  for  maturer  work: 

Et  patientior  est  laboris  natura  pueris  quam  iuvenibus. 
Videlicet,  ut  corpora  infantium  nee  casus,  quo  in  terram 
Child-Study,  totiens  deferuntur,  tarn  graviter  afflictet  nee  ilia 

1.  12.  10         per  manus   et  genua    reptatio   nee    post    breve 
tempus  continui  lusus  et  totius  diei  discursus.  quia  pondus 
illis  abest  nee  sese  ipsi  gravant. 

One  of  the  several  reasons  alleged,  why  oratory  cannot  be 
called  an  art  is  that  it  is  arrayed  against  itself ;  to  confute  this 
statement,  Quintilian  refers  to  the  gladiator,  the  pilot,  and 
the  general : 

Nee,  si  pugnent  inter  se,  qui  idem  didicerunt  idcirco  ars, 
quee  utrique  tradita  est,  non  erit;  alioqui  nee  armorum, 
Combats,  quia  saspe  gladiatores  sub  eodem  magistro 
2.17.33  eruditi  inter  se  componuntur;  nee  gubernandi, 
quia  navalibus  prceliis  gubernator  est  gubernatori  adversus; 
nee  imperatoria,  quia  imperator  cum  imperatore  contendit. 

To  prove  that  oratory  is  a  virtue  despite  the  objection  of 
some  that  it  is  practised  sometimes  by  wicked  men : 

Latro  pugnabit  acriter,  virtus  tamen  erit  fortitude;  et 
Fortitude,  tormenta  sine  gemitu  feret  malus  servus,  toler- 

2.  20.  10         antia  tamen  doloris  laude  sua  non  carebit. 

To  refute  those  who  claim  that  young  children  should  not 
be  taught  several  branches  of  learning  at  the  same  time : 

Cur  non-  idem  suademus  agricolis:  ne  arva  simul  et 
Husbandry,  vineta  et  oleas  et  arbustum  colant;  ne  pratis 
i.  12.  7  et  pecoribus  et  hortis  et  alvearibus  avibusque 

accommodent  curam? 

To  illustrate  the  principle  that  children's  mistakes  should 
not  be  corrected  with  severity: 

Quod   etiam    rusticis    notum    est,    qui   frondibus   teneris 
non  putant   adhibendam   esse   falcem,    quia   re- 
formidare  ferrum  videntur  et  nondum  cicatricem 
pati  posse. 

To  prove  that  imitation  is  a  very  important  factor  in  the 
development  of  the  child: 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  53 

Sic    musici    vocem  docentium,    pictores    opera    priorum, 
rustici  probatam  experimento  culturam  in  exem- 
plum  intuentur. 

To  improve  the  faculty  of  speaking  extemporaneously, 
a  diligent  use  of  the  pen  is  necessary  in  order  to  foster  depth 
of  thought  and  to  remove  trivialities: 

Sicut  rustici  proximas  vitis  radices  amputant, 
quae  illam  in  summum  solum  ducunt,  ut  inferiores 
penitus  descendendo  firmentur. 

Though  imitation  is  necessary,  yet  no  advance  would  be 
made  unless  we  aim  to  improve  upon  what  we  imitate : 

Nihil  in  poetis  supra  Livium  Andronicum,  nihil  in  historiis 
supra  Pontificum  annales  haberemus;  ratibus  adhuc  navi- 
garetur;  non  esset  pictura,  nisi  quae  lineas  modo  Literature, 
extremas  umbrae,  quam  corpora  in  sole  fecissent,  I0-  2-  7 

circumscriberet . 

To  answer  the  charges  of  those  who  deny  that  oratory 
is  useful  inasmuch  as  it  is  used  by  some  for  evil  purposes: 

Quo  quidem  modo  nee  duces  erunt  utiles  nee  Magistrates, 
magistratus  nee  medicina  nee  denique  ipsa  2-  l6-  5 

sapientia. 

Nam  et  dux  Flaminius  et  Gracchi,  Saturnini,  Glauciae 
gessere  magistratus,  et  in  medicis  venena  et  in  his,  qui  philo- 
sophorum  nomine  male  utuntur,  gravissima  non  numquam 
flagitia  deprehensa  sunt. 

One  of  the  assertions  made  by  those  who  deny  that  oratory 
is  an  art  is  that  the  pleader  does  not  know  whether  the  case 
he  is  supporting  is  true  or  not : 

Ne  medicus  quidem,  an  dolorem  capitis  habeat  Medicine, 
qui  hoc  se  pati  dicet;  curabit  tamen,  tanquam  id  2-  *7-  39 
verum  sit,  et  erit  ars  medicina. 

In  his  handling  of  the  case,  the  pleader  should  study  the 
countenance  of  the  judex,  and  taking  his  cue  from  the  ex- 
pression proceed  accordingly: 

Faciunt  hoc  medici  quoque,  ut  remedia  proinde  6  4  10 

perse verent  adhibere  vel   desinant,  ut  ilia  recipi 
vel  respui  vident. 

Judicious  questioning  and  testing  of  the  pupil  to  develop 


54  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

his  powers  of  discrimination  will  be  of  more  value  than  many 
rules  and  manuals  : 

Sicut  de  re  militari  quamquam  sunt  tradita  quaedam 
Military  praecepta  communia,  magis  tamen  proderit  scire, 
Tactics,  qua  ducum  quisque  ratione,  in  quali  re,  tempore, 

loco  sit  sapienter  usus  aut  contra. 

In  the  "partitio"  or  summary  of  the  headings  to  be  treated 
most  advocates  hestitate  to  set  forth  more  than  one  phase 
of  the  case  to  be  defended,  or  attacked,  or  in  other  words, 
to  assume  more  than  one  position  with  regard  to  the  facts 
of  the  case. 

Ut  certa  man  us  uno  telo  possit  esse  content  a:  in- 
certa  plura  spargenda  sunt,  ut  sit  et  fortunae  locus. 
Skill  in  "dispositio"  or  the  logical  arrangement  of  points  in 
an  oration,  the  importance  of  which  cannot  be  overestimated, 
depends  not  upon  precepts    but    upon  the  keenness  of  ob- 
servation and  natural  ability  of  the  orator. 

Haec  est  velut  imperatoria  virtus  copias  suas  partientis  ad 
casus  prceliorum,  retinentis  partes  per  castella  tuenda  cus- 
I0  todiendasve  urbes,  repetendos  commeatus,  obsi- 

denda  itinera,  mari  denique  ac  terra  dividentis. 
To  illustrate  the  fact  that  a  successful  orator  must  have  a 
knowledge  of  civil  law : 

Nisi  forte  imperatorem  quis  idoneum  credit  in  prceliis 
I2  quidem  strenuum  et  fort  em  et  omnium,  quae 

pugna  poscit,  artificem,  sed  neque  delectus  agere 
nee  locum  capere  castris  scientium. 

While  treating  of  the  subject  of  argumentation,  he  criti- 
cises those  who  neglect  the  use  of  proofs  introduced  according 
to  the  rules  of  art. 

Neque  aliter  quam  ii,  qui  traduntur  a  poetis  gustu  cuius- 
Mythology,  dam  apud  Lotophagos  graminis  et  Sirenum  cantu 
5-8.1  deleniti  voluptatem  saluti  praetulisse. 

To  answer  those  denying  that  oratory  is  an  art  in  that  it 
does  not  always  gain  its  point  or  reach  its  goal,  which,  ac- 
cording to  their  definition  that  the  aim  of  oratory  is  to  per- 
suade, may  be  true,  but  according  to  Quintilian's  that  the 
aim  is  to  speak  well,  is  not  applicable: 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC   METAPHORS  55 

Nam  et  gubernator  vult  salva  nave  in  portum  pervenire, 
si   tamen   tempest  ate   fuerit    abreptus  non  ideo      Navigation, 
minus    erit    gubernator    dicetque    no  turn    illud,      2-  J7-  24, 
"  Dum  clavum  rectum  teneam. " 

Et  medicus  sanitatem  aegro  promittit ;  si  tamen  aut  valetu- 
dinis  vi  aut  intemperantia  aegri  aliove  quo  casu  (Medicine), 
summa  non  contingit,  dum  ipse  omnia  secundum  2>  J7-  25 
rationem  fecerit,  medicinag  fine  non  excidet. 

A  different  style  of  composition  is  to  be  used  in  the  several 
parts  of  an  oration;  in  the  exordium  the  utmost  care  must  be 
exercised  to  have  it  simple,  natural  and  fluent,  for  any  con- 
fusion or  false  step  in  the  procemium  is  a  most  serious  offense : 

Pessimus  certe  gubernator,  qui  navem,  dum  Navigation, 
portu  egreditur,  impegit.  4-  i«  61 

Quintilian  oddly  justifies  the  orator  for  assenting  to  false 
statements  on  the  ground  that  he  himself  is  undeceived,  and 
after  citing  two  examples  from  history — that  of  Hannibal's 
deception  when  hemmed  in  by  Fabius,  and  that  of  Theopom- 
pus,  the  Spartan,  who  eluded  his  captors  by  donning  his  wife's 
mantle — compares  the  orator,  who  resorts  to  such  a  ruse,  to 
the  artist : 

Pictor,  cum  vi  artis  suae  efficit,  ut  quasdam  eminere  in 
opere,  quaedam  recessisse  credamus,  ipse  ea  plana  Painting, 
esse  non  nescit.  2.  17-21 

Our  author  does  not  approve  of  the  practice  of  writing  the 
procemkim  last  : 

Nam  nee  pingere  quisquam  aut  fingere  coepit  a  pedibus,  nee 
denique  ars  ulla  consummatur  ibi,  unde  oriendum  est. 

It  is  impossible  to  teach  all  the  niceties  of  arrangement; 
these  the  orator  must  learn  from  his  own  observations,  study, 
and  practice. 

Nam    quis    pictor    omnia,   quae    in    rerum    natura  sunt, 

adumbrare  didicit  ?  sed  percepta  semel  imitandi 

7.  10.  o 
ratione  assimulabit,  quidquid  acceperit. 

Quis  non  faber  vasculum  aliquod,  quale  numquam  viderat 
fecit? 

In  taking  up  the  last  study  of.  the  orator,  pronuntiatio, 
Quintilian  warns  against  monotony  in  delivery : 


56  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Ut,  qui  singulis  pinxerunt  coloribus,  alia  tamen  eminentiora 
ii.  3  46  a^a  reductiora  fecerunt,  sine  quo  ne  membris  qui- 
dem  suas  lineas  dedissent. 

In  his  arraignment  of  the  current  preference  for  distorted 
and  far-fetched  figures  of  language : 

Ilia  vero,  quae  utcunque  deflexa  sunt  tamquam  exquisi- 
tiora  miramur;  non  aliter  quam  distortis  et  quocumque 
Phenomena,  modo  prodigiosis  corporibus  apud  quosdam 
2. 5.  ii  maius  est  pretium  quam  his,  quae  nihil  ex 

communi  habitu  boni  perdiderunt. 

In  reply  to  those  who  say  that  rhetoric  is  not  an  art  because 
it  does  not  know  whether  what  is  asserted  is  true : 

Ne  hi  quidem,  qui  ignem  aut  aquam  aut  quattuor  elementa 
aut  corpora  insecabilia  esse,  ex  quibus  res  omnes  initium 
Philosophy,  duxerint,  tradunt,  nee  qui  intervalla  siderum 
2.17.38  et  mensuras  solis  ac  terras  colligunt;  disciplinam 
tamen  suam  artem  vocant. 

To  substantiate  his  theory  that  the  best  possible  teachers 
should  be  procured  for  the  youngest  children,  in  contradiction 
to  those  who  claim  that  the  best-equipped  teachers  are  not 
able  to  teach  successfully  the  very  young : 

Nisi  forte  lovem  quidem  Phidias  optime  fecit,  ilia 
Sculpture,  autem,  quae  in  ornamentum  operis  eius  acce- 
2>  3-  6  dunt,  alius  melius  elaborasset. 

(b)  Parallels  drawn  from  animals  without  speech. 

To  illustrate  his  method  of  teaching  how  to  compose  by 
both  pointing  out,  by  example,  the  right  way  to  build  up  an 
oration,  and  carefully  correcting  the  efforts  of  the  pupils. 
They  should  be  given  every  encouragement  to  do  independent 
work,  always  being  gently  led  back  when  they  have  gone 
astray. 

Cui  rei  simile  quiddam  facientes  aves  cernimus,  quae  teneris 
infirmisque  fetibus  cibos  ore  suo  collates  partiuntur;  at  cum 
Birds,  visi  sunt  adulti,  paulum  egredi  nidis  et  circum- 

2.  6.  7  volare  sedem  illam  praecedentes  ipsae  decent,  turn 

expertas  vires  libero  ccelo  suaeque  ipsorum  fiduciae  per- 
mittunt. 

The  transition  from  the  school  of  the  rhetor  to  actual 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  57 

pleading  in  the  forum  should  be  made  as  easy  as  possible 
by  starting  with  a  very  simple  and  favorable  case : 

Ferarum  ut  catuli  molliore  prasda  sagi  -Wild  Animals, 
nantur.  I2-  6-  6 

(c)     Parallels   drawn   from   inanimate   objects. 

To  illustrate  that  change  and  recreation  are  absolutely 
necessary  in  the  instruction  of  the  young: 

Ea  quoque ,  quag  sensu  et  anima  carent ,  ut  servare  Plant-Life, 
vim  suam  possint,velut  quiete  alterna  retenduntur.  i.  3»  8 

To  answer  those  who  pride  themselves  on  their  preference 
for  the  pre- Ciceronian  style  of  oratory: 

Quorum  si  fieri  nihil  melius  licebat,  ne  domibus  quidem 
casas  aut  vestibus  pellium  tegmina  aut  urbibus  Architecture, 
montes  ac  silvas  mutari  oportuit.  9-  4-  4 

In  the  arrangement  of  words  in  a  Latin  sentence,  although  it 
is  best  to  put  the  verb  last,  yet  this  practice  must  yield  to  the 
necessities  of  rhythm,  and  all  words  must  be  placed  where 
they  fit  in  most  harmoniously: 

Sicut  in  structura  saxorum  rudium  etiam  ipsa 

9.  4.  27 

enormitas  invenit,  cui  apphcan  et  in  quo  possit 
insistere. 

To  prove- the  value  of  having  at  one's  command  a  collection 
of  "communes  loci " : 

Quae  qui  pertinere  ad  orationem  non  putabit,  is  ne  sta- 
tuam  quidem  inchoari  credet,  cum  eius  membra  Art, 

fundentur.  2- *•  I2 

Although  a  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  oratory  is  necessary, 
yet  these  are  not  to  be  considered  hard  and  fixed  and  not 
to  be  deviated  from;  but  two  things  must  always  be  regarded, 
what  is  becoming  and  what  is  expedient;  and  this  often 
demands  a  departure  from  the  usual  order. 

Ut  in  statuis  atque  picturis  videmus  variari  habitus,  vultus, 
status.     Nam  recti  quidem  corporis  vel  minima  gratia  est. 
Here  follows  a  very  long  and  interesting  digres- 
sion on  the  subject  ot  art,  commenting  on  the 
beauty  of  Myron's  discobolos  and  the  tableau  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Iphigenia  at  Aulis. 

In  discoursing  on  the  material  of  oratory  in  answer  to  those 


58  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

who  say  that  oratory  has  no  specific  material  because  it  is 
multiform : 

Et  alise  quoque  artes  minores  habent  multiplicem  materiam, 
velut  architectonice,  namque  ea  in  omnibus,  quae  sunt 
Art,  aedificio  utilia,  versatur,  et  caelatura,  quas  auro, 

2.  21.  8  argento,  aere,  ferro  opera  efficit.  Nam  sculptura 

eitam  lignum,  ebur,  marmor,  vitrum,  gemmas,  prasterea 
quag  supra  dixi,  complectitur. 

In  his  literary  critique,  giving  the  reason  why  he  omits  so 
many  authors  of  note,  he  says  that  while  the  orator  is  in  the 
making,  the  mind  is  to  be  cultured  and  the  matter  and  manner 
of  the  best  is  to  be  caught  by  much  reading  rather  than  a 
reading  of  many,  and  then  when  strength  is  assured,  those 
others  may  be  reverted  to. 

Quod  in  ccenis  grandibus  saepe  facimus,  ut,  cum  optimis 
Foods,  satiati  sumus,  varietas  tamen  nobis  ex  vilioribus 

10.  i.  57  gmta  sit. 

In  answer  to  those  who  deny  that  oratory  is  an  art  because 
it  was  in  use  before  the  art  arose : 

Aut  tollatur  medicina,  quae  ex  observatione  salubrium  atque 
his  contrariorum  reperta  est,  et,  ut  quibusdam  placet,  tota 
Medicine,  constat  experimentis ;  nam  et  vulnus  deligavit 
2. 17-  9  aliquis,  antequam  haec  ars  esset,  et  febrem  quiete 

et  abstinentia,  non  quia  rationem  videbat,  sed  quia  id  vale- 
tudo  ipsa  ccegerat,  mitigavit. 

Nee  fabrica  sit   ars,  casas   enim  primi  illi  sine  arte  fece- 

runt ;  nee  musica,  cantatur  ac  saltatur  per  omnes 
Music  v  ., 

gentes  aliquo  modo. 

C.    PARALLELS  THAT  ARE  INDEPENDENT  OR  SEPARATE. 

(a)  Drawn  from  the  proceedings  of  man: 

To  illustrate  the  relative  parts  that  nature  and  education 
play  in  the  consummation  of  the  orator : 

Sicut  terrae  nullam  fertilitatem  habenti  nihil  optimus 
Agriculture,  agricola  profuerit,  e  terra  uberi  utile  aliquid 
2.  19.  3  etiam  nullo  colente  nascetur,  at  in  solo  fecundo 

plus  cultor  quam  ipsa  per  se  bonitas  soli  efnciet. 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  59 

Quintilian  has  said  so  much  against  effeminate  ornamenta- 
tion that  he  fears  lest  some  may  count  him  a  foe  to  all  cultured 
speaking,  but  it  is  the  ornamentation  which  makes  for  strength 
that  he  desires  to  teach : 

Pulcher    aspectu    sit    athleta,    cuius    lacertos    exercitatio 
expressit;  idem  certamini   paratior.     Numquam 
mera  species  ab  utilitate  dividitur. 

To  prove  that  those  are  wrong  who  claim  that  the  untrained 
are  more  forceful  orators  than  the  educated: 

Nam  et  gladiator,  qui  armorum  inscius  in  rixam  ruit,  et  lucta- 
tor,  qui  totius  corporis  nisu  in  id,  quod  semel  invasit,  incumbit, 

fortior  ab  his  vocatur ;  cum  interim  et  hie  frequenter 

•  •-,  •  .  .   MI  -i  •       Gladiatorial 

suis  vinbus  ipse  prostermtur,  et  ilium  vehementis        Combats 

impetus  excipit  adversarii  mollis  articulus.  2.  12.  2 

(6)  Parallels  drawn  from  the  lower  animals: 
To  prove  the  utility  of  oratory  and  our  duty  in  cultivating 
this  divine  gift,  Quintilian  enters  into  a  long  digression,  setting 
forth  the  various  characteristics  in  which  the  lower  animals 
excel  man,  and  the  purpose  of  the  Great  Designer  in  elevating, 
by  the  faculty  of  speech  alone,  the  human  race  above  the 
dumb  creatures,  which  in  certain  respects  are  so  intelligent : 

Nam  et  mollire  cubilia  et  nidos  texere  et  educare  fetus  et 
excludere  quin  etiam  reponere  in  hiemen  alimenta,  opera  qua3- 
dam  nobis  inimitabilia  (qualia  sunt  ceterarum  ac  Birds 

mellis)   efficere,  nonnullius   fortasse  rationis    est         2.  16.  16 
sed  quia  carent  sermone,  qua?  id  faciunt,  muta 
atque  irrationalia  vocantur. 

To  illustrate  that  both  beauty  and  strength  of  expression 
are  secured  by  removing  all  superfluous  phrases : 

Decentior  equus,  cuius  astricta  ilia,  sed  idem  Horse, 

velocior.  8.  3.  9 

(c)   Parallels  drawn  from  inanimate  objects : 
Beauty,  to  appeal  to  Quintilian,  must  be  coupled  with  utility : 
An  ego  fundum  cultiorem  putem,  in  quo  mihi  quis  osten- 
derit  lilia  et  violas  et  anemonas,  fontes  surgentes,  quam  ubi 
plena  messis  aut  graves  f ructu  vites  erunt  ?  steri-  Arboriculture, 
lem  platanum  tonsasque  myrtos  quam  maritam  8.  3.  8 

ulmum  et  uberes  oleas  praeoptaverim  ? 


60  QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS 

Nullusne  ergo  etiam  frugiferis  adhibendus  est  decor? 
Quis  negat?  Nam  et  in  ordinem  certaque  intervalla  redigatn 
meas  arbores.  Quid  illo  quincunce  speciosius,  qui,  in  quam- 
cumque  partem  spectaveris,  rectus  est?  Sed  protinus  in  id 
quoque  prodest,  ut  terrae  sucum  aequaliter  trahat.  Surgentia 
in  altum  cacumina  oleav  f  erro  coercebo  ;  in  orbem  se  f  ormosius 
fundet  et  protinus  fructum  ramis  pluribus  feret. 

Another  illustration  of  his  pet  theory  that  charm  or  grace 
always  accompanies  j  strength  or  power: 

An  non  earn,  quae  emissa  op  time  est,  hastam  speciosissime 
contortam  ferri  videmus;  et  arcu  dirigentium  tela,  quo 
Athletics,  certior  manus,  hoc  est  habitus  ipse  formosior? 
9*  4-  8  lam  certamine  armorum  atque  in  omni  palaestra 

quid  satis  recte  cavetur  ac  petitur,  cui  non  artifex  motus  et 
certi  quidam  pedes  assint? 

One  of  the  replies  to  those  archaistswho  object  to  the  applica- 
tion of  art  to  the  primitive  rugged  style  of  oratory  is  that  we 
are  naturally  drawn  toward  rhythm  and  euphony  of  expression  : 

Neque  enim  aliter  eveniret,  ut  illi  quoque  organorum  soni, 
Music,  quamquam  verba  non  exprimunt,  in  alios  tamen 

9.  4.  10  atque  alios  motus  ducerent  auditorem. 


D.   PARALLELS  IN  WHICH  THE  avTaxoBoais  OR   CORRESPON- 

DENCE IS  PARTICULARLY  MANIFEST. 

/-   (a)  Drawn  from  the  proceedings  of  man  : 

Oratory  is  too  hard  and  difficult  a  subject  to  admit  of  being 
A  constrained  by  any  immutable  laws  and  precepts  ;  therefore  the 
orator  must  have  tact  and  skill  in  adapting  himself  to  the  inevi- 
table changes  in  circumstances,  attending  the  various  cases  : 

Quid?  si  enim  praecipias  imperatori,  quotiens  aciem  instruct, 
dirigat  frontem,  cornua  utrinque  promoveat,  equites  pro 
Military  cornibus  locet  :  erit  haec  quidem  rectissima  fortasse 
Tactics,  ratio,  quotiens  licebit;  sed  mutabitur  natura  loci, 

2'  I3*  3  si  mons  occurret,  si  flumen  obstabit,  collibus, 

silvis,  asperitate  alia  prohibetur;  mutabit  hostium  genus, 
mutabit  prassentis  condicio  discriminis;  nunc  acie  directa 
nunc  cuneis,  nunc  auxiliis  nunc  legione  pugnabitur,  non- 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  61 

numquam  terga  etiam  dedisse  simulata  fuga  proderit.  Ita 
prooemium  necessarium  an  super  vacuum,  breve  an  longius, 
ad  iudicem  omni  sermone  directo  an  .aliquando  averse  per 
aliquam  figuram  dicendum  sit,  constricta  an  latius  fusa 
narratio  continua  an  divisa,  recta  an  ordine  permutato, 
causas  docebunt. 

Though  Rousseau  almost  seventeen  hundred  years  later 
gained  a  great  name  for  himself  as  the  exponent  of  something 
new,  "Education  according  to  nature,"  yet  we  find  that  this 
was  a  favorite  theory  with  Quintilian: 

Ut  si  quis  palaestrae  peritus,  cum  in  aliquod  plenum  puens 
gymnasium  venerit,  expert  us  eorum  omni  modo  corpus  ani- 
mumque  discernat,  cui  quisque  certamini  prae-  Palaestra, 
parandus  sit:  ita  praeceptorem  eloquentiae,  cum  2.8.6 

sagaciter  fuerit  intuitus,  cuius  ingenium  presso  limatoque 
genere  dicendi,  cuius  acri,  gravi,  dulci,  aspero,  nitido,  urbano 
maxime  gaudeat,  ita  se  commodaturum  singulis,  ut  in  eo  quo 
quisque  eminet,  provehatur,  etc. 

(b)  Parallel  drawn  from  the  lower  animals: 

On  the  practice  of  declaiming,  Quintilian  does  not  wholly 
approve  of  the  youthful  orator  handling  a  topic  that  is  imagina- 
tive and  poetical,  yet  an  occasional  attempt  of  this  sort  may 
do  no  harm : 

Dum  sciat,  ut  quadrupedes,  cum  viridi  pabulo  distentae 
sunt,  sanguinis  detractione  curantur  et  sic  ad  cibos  viribus 
conservandis  idoneos  redeunt:  ita  sibi  quoque  Animals, 
tenuandas  adipes,  et  quidquid  humoris  corrupti  2-  I0-  6 

contraxerit,  emittendum,  si  esse  sanus  ac  robustus  volet. 

(c)  Parallel  drawn  from  an  inanimate  object. 

The  voice,  such  an  important  factor  in  the  success  of  an 
orator,  must  be  exercised  to  produce  every  variety  of  inflection, 
and  though  care  must  be  taken  of  it,  yet  it  must  not  be 
rendered  sensitive  and  delicate  by  too  much  attention: 

Ut  assueta  gymnasiis  et  oleo  corpora,  quamlibet  sint  in  suis 
certaminibus  speciosa  atque  robusta,  si  militare  iter  fascemque 
et  vigilias  imperes  deficiant  et  quaerant  unctores  Athletics, 
suos  nudumque  sudorem.  Ita,  si  dicendum  in  "•  3-  26 
sole  aut  ventoso,  humido,  calido  die  fuerit,  reos  deseremus? 


CONCLUSION 

Classifying  Quintilian's  use  of  metaphorical  language 
according  to  the  various  departments  to  which  he  resorted 
in  order  to  make  his  precepts  either  more  clear  or  more 
interesting,  we  find  according  to  a  quantitative  basis, 

Art  1 8  (including  Architecture  7,  Engraving  i,  Music  2, 
Painting  3,  Sculpture  5). 

Athletics  19  (including  Gladiatorial  Combats  3,  Chariot 
racing  i). 

Drama  2. 

Dress  4. 

Food  7. 

Fuller's  Art  3. 

Medicine  13. 

Military  Tactics  10. 

Nature  68  (including  Agriculture  22,  Biology  12,  Pheno- 
mena 2,  Physical  World  18,  Physiology  7,  Rivers  7). 

Mythology  i. 

Navigation  14. 

Philosophy  2. 

Psychology  7. 

Travel  (including  Roads)  7. 

Treasury  4. 

Weapons  7. 

Wine-making  2. 

From  this  numerical  statement,  we  see  that  Nature  was  the 
favorite  theme  comprising  .361  of  the  sum  total  of  1 88; 
Athletics  next,  .101;  Art  .098;  Navigation  .079;  Medicine 
.074  constitute  the  bulk  of  the  remaining. 

From  the  preceding  pages,  it  may  be  seen  that,  though  these 

62 


QUINTILIAN'S  DIDACTIC  METAPHORS  63 

didactic  principles  were  intended  for  the  formation  of  a 
Roman  youth  of  the  Empire,  yet  by  their  very  breadth  of 
view,  they  are  independent  of  time  and  country,  and  address 
themselves  no  less  applicably  to  us,  of  the  modern  world, 
than  they  did  to  the  humanists  who  hailed  their  resuscitation 
with  ecstasy,  as  one  of  the  most  important  events  of  the 
Renaissance.  This  is  exemplified  by  the  remark  of  Poggio 
(1416)  on  hearing  that  Quintilian  entire  had  been  Sihler 

at  last  regained,  that  he  wished  only  to  see  the  Testimonium 
work  before  he  died.  Laurentius  Valla  (1406-  Anim8e»  P-  3$ 
J457)»  the  model  of  pure  Latin  writing  for  his  generation, 
owed  more  to  his  keen  study  of  Quintilian  than  to  Cicero. 
Rabelais  (1483-1553),  in  Gargantua's  letter  to 
Pantagruel,  cites  Quintilian  as  his  model.  The  tt  *'p*38 
Port-Royalists  (1644)  and  likewise  Rollin  (1664-1741)  bor- 
rowed much  from  this  great  Educator,  the  first  of  the 
"Ciceronians." 


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